Howard J. Bourque

September 15, 1925 - July 22, 2011

Howard Bourque passed to his new life on July 22, 2011. He leaves behind family memories to be cherished by his wife of 63 years, Olite, their four children and spouses; Kathy and Bob O'Leary, Mike and Karen Bourque, Sandy and Mark Dolce and Ricky and Jolean Bourque, eight grandchildren; Jason, TJ, Charles, John, David, Laura, Brianne and Jobeth and two great-grandchildren; Connor and Colin. He was a tireless servant of the Fire Service. He joined the Fire Service in Abbeville in 1942 at the age of 17. He continued his service in the Navy and then joined the Port Arthur Fire Department in 1949. He served as a Firefighter, Dispatcher and Secretary to the Chief before being named Fire Marshall in 1959 where he served until his retirement in 1988. He remained active in the Sabine Neches Chiefs Association for 62 years attending the second meeting of that organization in November 1949. He served the Texas A&M Firemen Training School for 46 continuous years. In his retirement years he enjoyed numerous activities with his friends in the Les Acadiens du Texas and traveling with family and friends. In honor of Howard's humble service to the Fire Service the family requests donations be made to Guest Instructor's Memorial Emergency Services Training Institute, 301 Tarrow, College Station, Texas 77840 in lieu of flowers. The Memorial recognizes fire service volunteers who have more than 10 years of service sharing their knowledge and skills in the training of emergency first responders.