IN MEMORIAM
Built for Business
A Tribute to Businesswoman Kim Howard
BY D A L L A S C A RT E R
I
f you didn’t have the pleasure of knowing Kim Howard, you at least knew of or were impacted by her work. The regional director of the Southwest Indiana Small Business Development Center worked with the Southwest Indiana Chamber of Commerce, taskforces established by Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, and more. Known as a trusted advisor to her coworkers and a role model to her family, Kim dedicated her life to positively shaping Evansville’s business landscape. On March 13, 2021, Kim passed away after battling a glioblastoma (the most aggressive type of brain tumor in adults) for seven months. “I’m an unabashed supporter and cheerleader for my wife,” says Chris Howard, Kim’s husband. “Kim was a very strong person. As I got to know her, I realized how smart, how generous, and just what a great thinker she was.” While day-to-day operations continue, Kim’s death has left a notable hole in Evansville’s business community — a testament to her impactful work and legacy her coworkers, friends, and family now celebrate and share.
Humble Beginnings Kim was born on April 26, 1957, in Indianapolis. While it’s clear now that she was built for business, her life began on a musical track. Kim and her sister Leslie, who come from a family of musicians and conductors, were once selected for the McDonald’s Marching Band — a national band made up of two young musicians from each state. She was talented at many forms of music, but it was the clarinet that earned her a full-ride scholarship to Butler University in Indianapolis. Eventually switching her major to public speaking and business management, Kim became another in a long line of Butler alumni after graduating in 1979. A L L P H OTO S P R OV I D E D
Two years after receiving her master’s degree from the University of Evansville in 1985, Kim met with a friend who worked at the Cork n’ Cleaver restaurant and was introduced to the new manager, Chris Howard. The Kalamazoo, Michigan, native had recently transferred to Evansville’s Cork n’ Cleaver from Lexington, Kentucky. Eight months after meeting, Chris was on one knee in the restaurant surprising Kim with an engagement ring perched atop her usual order of king crab. “We were married in 1988. I floated the idea after eight months of meeting her; I knew that I loved her,” he says. “I was then, and still am, the luckiest person in the world. I would not trade it for anything in the world, even the last seven months when I stayed home and took care of her.”
Kim Howard was well known for her work in Evansville, a reputation she built most notably during her 16 years at the Southwest Indiana Small Business Development Center with her tight-knit coworkers (below). But she always made time for her family (above) — her husband of 32 years Chris Howard, daughter Olivia, and son Spencer.
Chris and Kim built a life together in Evansville in their 32 years of marriage. They completely renovated their home of 23 years, created a luscious garden in their backyard, ate many delicious meals at home prepared by Chris, and raised two children. Besides being an inspiration to 29-year-old Spencer, who works for Dell in Nashville, and 25-year-old Olivia, who works for the Chamber of Commerce in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Kim adored her two nieces and sat on the 4C of Southern Indiana board of directors. Evansville Business | 17
