Bike safety advocate dies after car hits cycle (PBP) 10-20-98Bile safety advocate
dies after car hits cycle
Ray Howland, 69, kept active in community
By A. Scharnhomt
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
After his retirement from
managing the Village of North
Palm Beach in 1992, Ray How-
land poured hours into making
Palm Beach County safer for his
favorite sport — bicycling. Sun-
day, a driver in Mount Dora
struck and killed Mr. Howland as
he sat on his bicycle on the side of
the road.
He was 69.
Mr. Howland became in-
volved in educating officials about
the need for streets to accommo-
date both bicycles and cars. He'd
survived being hit by a car on his
bicycle in 1987.
"He deserves a real tribute,"
said Circuit Judge John Phillips,
who rode with Mr. Howland in
the West Palm Beach Bicycle
Club. "He was a wonderful athlete
... (and) was just committed to
safety — which makes his death
this way all the more tragically
ironic."
Mr. Howland was riding in the
three-day Mount Dora Bicycle
Festival, a 24-year-old event north
of Orlando. He had begun a 25-
mile road tour shortly after 8 a.m.
Sunday when
the crash oc-
curred. It was
the first fatality
in the history
of the festival,
said Craig
Willis, execu-
tive vice presi-
dent of the
Mount Dora
Mr. Howland Chamber of
Commerce,
which sponsors the festival.
Mr. Howland had stopped his
bicycle on the side of the road —
well off on the shoulder — and
was applying sunscreen and
waiting for friends to catch up
when he was hit, Willis said. A
35-year-old man driving a sport
utility vehicle made a wide turn
onto the road where Mr. Howland
was stopped, crossed onto the
shoulder and struck Mr. How-
land. An investigation is continu-
ing.
Sunday's ride was not set to
start for another 30 minutes, but
Mr. Howland was out on the route
early to try to finish before
morning Mass, Willis said.
Please see MR. HOWLAND/2B
Victim was
Korean vet,
president of
bicycle club
MR. HOWL.AND
From IB
The ride began a few minutes
later, carrying cyclists past the
accident scene. It was a sorrowful
ending to the festival, Willis said
— "especially to lose someone
like that ... one of the key people
in the state fighting for bicyclists'
rights."
It wasn't unusual for Mr.
Howland to be out in front of his
fellow cyclists, said Linda Leeds,
who often rode with Mr. Howland
in bicycle club get-togethers.
"He was always zooming
ahead. `Pick up the pace!' he'd yell
when we took out in the morn-
ing," Leeds said.
"He'd zoom ahead and then
he'd come back and find us and
then he'd zoom ahead again."
Mr. Howland was president of
the West Palm Beach cycling
club, a member of the Triathlon
Club of the Palm Beaches, man-
ager of a local softball team and
chairman of the Seacoast Utilities
Board of Directors.
He was a U.S. Army veteran
and had served in the Korean
War. ,
A native of Detroit, Mr. How-
land had graduated from Alfred
(N.Y.) University, and was a
member of St. Clare Catholic
Church..
He is survived by his wife,
Edie; his sons, Michael Howland
and Steven Howland; his daugh-
ter, Victoria Lounsbury; two sis-
ters; and six grandchildren,
Visitations will be 2 to 4 p.m.
and 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the
William N. Howard Funeral
Home, 745 U.S. Highway 1, North
Palm Beach.
A wake is scheduled at the
funeral home at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday.
A funeral Mass is set for 10
a.m. Thursday at St. Clare Cath-
olic Church, 821 Prosperity
Farms Road, North Palm Beach,
with burial in Our Lady Queen'of
Peace Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family
asks that contributions be sent to
the West Palm Beach Bicycle
Club — Ray Howland Scholar-
ship Fund, P.OIstBox 6581, Wef
Palm Beach, FIX, 33405.