CHEBEAGUE ISLAND — Sheldon Tower Howe, 72, of Chebeague Island, formerly of Brunswick, died Dec. 10 at Mid-Coast Hospital following a severe stroke.

Howe was born March 8, 1943, in Baltimore, Maryland, the oldest child of Dr. Sarah Tower and Dr. Howard Howe, both research physicians at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

As a young man Howe was a gifted artist whose work was shown in a juried museum show. He also loved music, both religious and classical, and played the clavichord, the piano and the recorder.

He attended St. Paul’s School for Boys outside Baltimore, and went to Goddard College in Vermont. He earned a Master of Science degree in Special Education before joining the staff at Linwood Center in Ellicott City, Maryland, where he worked for 30 years.  Howe focused on art as a way of reaching and inspiring his students at the school for severely disabled autistic children. 

Howe became a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in the 1970s, attending several churches in Baltimore and then the Portland and Brunswick SDA churches. He was a devoted member, involved in community service and evangelical ministry; he was always motivated by God to love and serve other people.

Howe was also a member of Spindleworks artists’ cooperative in Brunswick.

Howe was a friendly, outgoing and generous person, always concerned about others and wanting to help in whatever way he could. People often described him as sweet, not in a saccharine way, but as a gentle, kind, accepting and good man.

Several years after he retired, Howe moved to Chebeague Island to live with his sister, Beth Howe, and her husband, Mac Passano. He lived with them for almost a year before moving to Skolfield House, an assisted living facility in Brunswick.

Howe is survived by his sister and brother-in-law.

He was buried in the Chebeague Island Cemetery. A memorial service will be held at the Brunswick Seventh Day Adventist Church in January.

Howe