The community lost a good one: Prairie du Chien was Howe’s purpose

By Correne Martin

Bill Howe devoted the better part of 50 years to writing and gathering the news for this community. He was a walking encyclopedia of Prairie du Chien. He was full of anecdotes and facts. 

He lived nearly all of his 99 years with the family newspaper business ingrained into his spirit and his purpose. Eventually, Bill was the one who became firmly fixed into the fabric of the lives of those he interacted with for the news.

On Friday morning, July 22, I received a text from Bill’s oldest son and my former boss, Gary: “Dad passed away [this morning].”

I knew Bill had been in declining health since late June, when he fell and suffered a concussion. I had received regular updates about his condition from Gary since. Yet, when I got the official word, time stood still for a few moments, as my heart accepted the extinguishment of his shining light. Bill had wished he would live to turn 100 next April. He may have missed that milestone. But, honestly, in an extraordinary lifetime like his, what difference does nine months make?

None of us at the Courier Press office have seen or spoken to Bill since before Covid. He kept a lower profile during that time. Even since public health restrictions have lessened, he hadn’t stopped by to visit, like he did once a week prior. 

When I think about his visits, I instantly hear his feet leisurely shuffling into our building. Then I hear his unexpected “Boo!” followed by a carefree chuckle—his way of announcing his arrival. He would pull up a chair, tell me to get out my notebook and proceed to share his wealth of knowledge. It usually involved details about local history, the people and places he remembered. 

One time, Gary told me to take what Bill said with a grain of salt, because Bill would sometimes embellish his stories to make them sound better. I suppose there may have been some of that, but in my time, how many readers had lived longer than him or remembered the full truth anyway? 

To Bill, the best part of his job and his life was getting to meet and know the people who were doing things. 

He was also blessed with the gift of getting to tell those good stories. Some of you may remember the “Quacks by Bill” column that he penned for most of his career.

The Courier Press was purchased by Bill’s grandfather, Henry “Hank” in 1911, and run by his grandparents and parents before he and his brother, Lyman “Jack” took over. Their reign was from 1946 to 1997, when the fourth generation stepped up to ownership.

When I think of Wisconsin newspapers and the relentless, hard-nosed people who publish them, Bill’s dedication to the Courier Press and the industry is as unwavering as any.

According to his colleagues, Bill was one to read all federal, state and local documents, through and through, to gain the best understanding of the issues. He considered it his responsibility to report the key details.

Bill once recollected for me what, I’m certain, is only one example of him going above and beyond during his career. Not only did he write the news, but he was also active along the front lines of the news. He vividly remembered being one of four men, wearing waders, to walk up a state highway in waist-deep water, ahead of sandbag-hauling dump trucks, making their way to the small community of Ferryville on the brink of being deluged by flood waters. He said they could feel the blacktop with the poles they held onto and with their feet. They had a flag attached to their backs so the trucks could keep an eye on them and not run them over. Needless to say, the crew came back to Prairie du Chien via higher ground on a different highway. From escapades like this one, Bill said he would remember about 80 percent of what he experienced and then write about it in the newspaper. Of course, he always had his camera strapped around his neck to document the crucial newsworthy moments as well.

When he wasn’t assisting his flood-logged neighbors, or publishing the newspaper, Bill’s love of the great outdoors spawned an interest and career in community conservation. Through serving on the Wisconsin Conservation Congress for 68 years, Bill developed many close relationships with fellow conservationists and legislators across the state of Wisconsin. He always kept himself well informed of the various issues, and not just the local ones. Whenever possible, he attended meetings up and down the river. Specifically, Bill lobbied to have the big steamboats, the Delta and Mississippi Queens, make regular stops in Prairie du Chien. When President Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter arrived on the Delta Queen in 1979, the story dominated the pages of the Courier Press. 

In the loyal way of giving back that only he would, and because of his fondness for times gone by, Bill naturally found himself on the Prairie du Chien Historical Society Board about 10 years ago. Over that period, and as the Howe family’s newspapers changed hands more recently to Morris Newspapers of Wisconsin, Bill and his family ensured that some photographs and memorabilia were donated to the Fort Crawford Museum and the Museum of Prairie du Chien so that generations to come can appreciate them. 

In a recent interview I had with local historian and fellow board member Mary Antoine, she shared her admiration for Bill and the icon that he’s been for Prairie du Chien: “Just think of all the history that will go with him when he passes.”

While that may be true, may Bill, and his love of everything that came before him and the incredible moments he lived through, be an example of why we should all slow down, ask questions of our elders and soak up their knowledge. Someday, it will be gone and we will yearn for more time—just one more memory. 

Occasionally during my time at the paper, Bill would swing by and ask me to take a ride in his van around Prairie du Chien. What a privilege for me! All I could do was listen as Bill pointed out the dozens of properties where business occurred decades ago, and the places where he once fished, hunted and ice skated along the river. He would introduce me to some of his many “sweethearts,” reminisce about the buildings where he danced among friends, and bestow the kind of infinite knowledge upon me that only a loyal news man of his caliber could. 

I also had the honor, in 2018, of nominating and presenting Bill with his induction into the Wisconsin Newspaper Hall of Fame. I cherish the ride we took together to Madison in particular. I laugh when I think about it because, before we got on the road, his late life companion, Donna Kinley, said to me, “I hope you’re ready, because he’s going to talk all the way there and all the way back.” That, he did. 

I will forever wonder how I got so lucky as to truly know and follow in the footsteps of such a genuinely kind and respected creator of his own legacies. 

The community has lost a good one. 

We need more people like Bill Howe.