Howard Himmelbaum

"There are stars whose light reaches the earth only after they themselves have disintegrated and are no more. And there are men and women whose shining memory lights the world after they themselves are no longer amongst us. These lights which shine in the darkest night are the very ones which illumine for us the path." –Hannah Senesh Howard was such a light. He illuminated for us a path: The path of intellectual curiosity, the path of humor, the path of gentleness, the path of peace. By no means was he a soft or saintly soul. Big and blaring, opinionated and stubborn, he ruffled more than a few feathers in his wake. But, that stiff-neck perseverance is what pressed him to stand immovable and put all he had on the line to end segregation and advance the cause of social equality without rancor or violence. When others did not have the courage to stand up and speak out, Howard did. That same deeply-rooted intractable nature drove him to love unyieldingly. Howard was the eldest of three sons born to Max and Edythe Himmelbaum in Brooklyn, NY. After he served our country honorably in the Army Reserves, the straight-shooting idealist came to Arkansas in the 1960s to add his strength to the momentum of the civil rights movement. Toward that end, he worked with the Arkansas Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee also known as SNCC, or "Arsnick". Like Aaron, who lit the first perpetual light for the Jewish people and who tradition credits with epitomizing darkhei shalom the ways of peace; he employed civil resistance to struggle against oppression. Though threatened with bodily harm, he led sit-ins at segregated local businesses. He didn’t hesitate to be part of the demonstration to integrate the State Capitol’s basement cafeteria though he was burned with mustard gas, beaten with billy-clubs and dragged through the street. Despite all he had endured, he was not deterred from spear-heading voter’s registration initiatives in Marvell and Helena-West Helena. Although he was immensely claustrophobic, he had to occasionally hide in caskets to escape those who were seeking to do him harm—all because he was providing a cover for Blacks who wanted to vote where only Whites were allowed. Prior to relocating to Dallas, TX with his family in the 1980s, Howard organized the community based federal Credit Union in College Station. In the 1990’s he moved to Southern Florida where he served as the Director of Operations for SER-Jobs for Progress--a program that worked to get counseling and job placement for that area’s youth, seniors and refugees. After working almost 50 years to help his fellowman, he retired in 2006 and moved back to Arkansas. An activist at heart, he couldn’t resist the itch to once again be a change-maker in his local community. He volunteered to work with Governor Mike Beebe’s campaign and after the campaigning ended, he came out of retirement to serve as office manager to Gov. Beebe. Howard had been in poor health for the last six months and he was hospitalized with complications arising from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. January 30th he was transferred to Hospice Home Care, where he died on February 2nd at 5:30 p.m. He was 71. Howard touched countless lives and his memory will be cherished by many. Surviving him is his loving wife of almost 30 years, M. Annette Himmelbaum, Esq. of Little Rock, AR; step-daughter, Lillian Young of Manhattan, NY; two brothers: Frank Himmelbaum Diane of Brooklyn, NY, and Hank Himmelbaum Linda of South FL; and an array of cousins, nephews, nieces, great nephews and great nieces. Our heartfelt thanks to the multitude of family members and friends who provided their caring support, prayers, kindness, and concern throughout this difficult process. We would like to extend a special thank you to our dear friends for being there at our side to give us strength and guide us through what had to get done--and a personal thank you to Dr. James Beck, MD., the staff of Hospice Home Care, Baptist Health and St. Vincent Medical Group for the attention, responsiveness and help they gave to Howard. Finally, thanks to the Cremation Association of Arkansas for the compassion and professionalism during this stressful and sad time. A memorial service commemorating and celebrating his life will be held from 6pm-7pm on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center MTCC, located at 501 West 9th Street Little Rock, AR 72201. This event is open to the public, however, for those not able to make the Wednesday service the MTCC is erecting a memorial display in honor of his life and his contribution to the history of the local civil rights movement. Everyone is invited to stop by the MTCC, browse the display and leave a personal note or message in the memorial book. The Howard L. Himmelbaum Memorial Fund has been established at Bank of America for those wishing to contribute or offer an expression of sympathy. All gifts donated to the fund will benefit The Society for the Preservation of the Mosaic Templars of America Building, Inc. and will help support the museum’s work, conservation, education, curatorial and research projects. Contributions should be sent to PO Box 241725, Little Rock, AR 72223. Checks and money orders should be made payable to: The Howard L. Himmelbaum Memorial Fund. May Howard’s light perpetually guide us and be with us. May his light give us strength and inspire in us acts of kindness and justice. Thus may his light continue to shine on in our lives and in the world.

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