Obituary

Obituary Howard O. Romack

Howard O. Romack (October 24, 1942–October 24, 2026)

Cambridge – Howard Romack died peacefully at home on his birthday, surrounded by his family.

Born in Greenfield, Indiana, to Howard H. and Margaret A. Romack, Howard grew up in Cambridge, New York. His childhood inspired a lifelong fascination with the natural world, and his curiosity would eventually take him far beyond the familiar fields and forests of upstate New York. He traveled to remote corners of the world in pursuit of insects, venturing into unfamiliar landscapes with the determination of a naturalist who wanted to see for himself what lived there. His was a life of exploration as well as of study, driven by the conviction that the world held far more than could be learned from books or sitting in front of a computer.

Howard attended Cambridge Central School and spent his senior year at Darrow. It was at a lake dance on Hedges the summer of his senior year that he met Patricia Murphy—a chance meeting that would shape the rest of their lives. They married in 1965 and went on to build a home and raise three children together. For the next six decades, Patricia shared Howard’s life with its menagerie of animals, far-flung adventures, and unexpected turns, meeting it all with an unflappable composure, and taking the occasional escape of Howard’s creatures in stride. She loved him as he was, embracing a life that was rarely ordinary and remaining his steadfast partner through the many adventures that defined their life together. 

With Patricia by his side, Howard earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Cornell University and continued to graduate school at New York University. Entomology became a lifelong passion that took him to Zambia, Malawi, Liberia, Guatemala, Trinidad, French Guiana, Mexico, Peru, Haiti, and other destinations. Howard became a world-class insect collector, seeking out specimens in unfamiliar habitats, often under difficult and sometimes dangerous conditions, driven to find an elusive insect or document something new about its life cycle. 

As a research associate with the New York State Museum, Howard supplied specimens for scientific study and contributed to research on insect variation. His fieldwork connected him with scientific institutions and a community of researchers associated with the New York State Museum, Cornell, Yale, and the Smithsonian. In 2009, he co-authored two papers published in the Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society documenting temperature-related hybridity in swallowtail butterflies. His research reflected the scientific value of careful collecting and field observation, advancing questions that could be explored only by examining specimens closely over time and across living populations.

Howard’s knowledge of the natural world was matched only by his ability to share it with others. He believed that direct experience could open minds in ways that conventional instruction could not. Early in his career, Howard worked at Children’s Village in Dobbs Ferry, where he developed a program using animals and nature to engage boys who had struggled with traditional educational approaches. Working in partnership with the Bronx Zoo, he introduced the boys to the living world through organized activities involving mammals, reptiles, amphibians, plants, birds, and insects. He described this work in an article published in Parks & Recreation in 1969, reflecting his early conviction that nature could be a powerful tool for education.

In 1975, Howard began teaching biology and outdoor education at Cambridge Central School, where he remained until his retirement. Over the next three decades, he provided generations of students the opportunity to connect with the natural world. A newly plowed field, an overlooked insect, or an unexpected encounter with an animal would become an impromptu lesson. Teaching at CCS was a vocation, not just a job, for Howard. He worked tirelessly to make the school and its students the best they could be. Although he was a middle school teacher, he could be regularly spotted on his way to the elementary or senior classrooms with a snake or box of hissing cockroaches in tow. He spent his afterschool hours coaching wrestling or advising a senior class, or monitoring a game or dance, or planning the next student science trip to Costa Rica. He spent weekends designing school-to-work programs and writing letters of recommendation to help students to gain employment and admission to college—setting many Cambridge residents on a scientific career path. Howard’s commitment to conservation education earned him recognition as a finalist in the 2003 New York State Teacher of the Year competition.

Howard’s influence extended across generations of Cambridge residents. Few people in our community grew up without encountering him as a teacher, and his students remember more than lessons from a textbook. Many of them remember travelling with him to seine ponds, setting up Malaise traps and blacklights to collect insects, and driving around the backroads with him on rainy spring nights in search of spotted salamanders. Under his guidance, an ordinary school day would become an expedition, and a pond, field, or patch of woods would reveal a world of discoveries. He gave his students something lasting: the curiosity to ask questions, the knowledge to seek answers, and an appreciation for the natural world that many carry with them to this day. Some of Howard’s favorite outdoor education activities are preserved in In Your Backyard: A Family’s Guide to Exploring the Outdoors, a book that he hoped would encourage families to get out and explore the outdoors with their children.

Retirement did nothing to slow Howard down. He continued to share his knowledge through summer science programs and community presentations, by volunteering hundreds of newspaper articles to local papers, and by fielding calls and visits from people asking for advice about the wildlife they encountered around their homes. Through his teaching, writing, research, and countless informal encounters, Howard made the natural world more accessible to people of all ages. He gave generously of his time and expertise to our community, never losing his enthusiasm for a new discovery or an opportunity to help someone understand what they had found.

Howard’s passing has left a profound void in the Cambridge community. The grief of so many former students, families, and neighbors attests to the reach of his influence and the affection with which he was held. His legacy lives on not only in his scientific contributions and the knowledge he shared, but in the generations of people whose understanding of the natural world was transformed by him. He taught people to look closer, ask questions, and to recognize that discovery was possible just beyond their own doorsteps. For countless people in Cambridge, he was the mentor who first opened that door.

Howard is survived by his wife, Patricia; his brother, John; his children, Katherine, Lee (Melanie), and Mike (Irene); and two grandchildren, Andy and Matthew.

A memorial service will be held at the Cambridge United Presbyterian Church, 81 East Main St., Cambridge on Saturday, November 7, 2026 at 2 pm. The family would like to extend its thanks to Barney Rubenstein, Dawn Merrills, as well as to the kind staff of SVMC and The Community Hospice.

Donations may be made to the “Howard O. Romack Science Award Fund” C/O Arrow Bank, 25 West Main Street, Cambridge, NY 12816 (to be given to a senior excelling in the natural sciences).

To express your sympathy or share a memory of Howard, please visit www.gariepyfuneralhomes.com

Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Ackley, Ross & Gariepy Funeral Home in Cambridge, NY.