Howard Earl Spanogle

They had lived in Asheville since 1993. Howard was a nationally recognized high school journalism teacher and student newspaper adviser, first at Glenbard East High School in Lombard outside of Chicago, and later at Highland Park High School near Dallas. In addition to his many other awards and recognitions, he received the Carl Towley Award in 1993 from the national Journalism Education Association (JEA) — its highest honor.

Howard was born in Altoona to William Earl Spanogle and Ruth Woleslagle. The younger of two sons, he was always interested in newspapers. He delivered them for the local daily — the Altoona Mirror — and was a member of the Altoona High School newspaper staff. He attended Bryan College in Dayton, Tenn., where he worked on the yearbook, and then enrolled at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., where he earned a pair of master’s degrees. While finishing his master’s degree in teaching at Duke University, Howard taught English at Jordan High School, where he asked the principal to be assigned to advise The Falcon Post, the school’s newspaper. This began an association with scholastic journalism that would last a lifetime. He taught at Glenbard East for 27 years and built one of the nation’s most successful student newspaper programs. He was a fierce advocate for freedom of expression for students and he demanded the highest levels of professionalism from the members of The Echo staff. Under Howard’s direction, student journalists at the Echo won more than 100 state and national awards, including the prestigious Pacemaker award from the National Scholastic Press Association three times and the Gold Crown award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association eight times. He served on countless boards and committees and chaired a blue-ribbon panel that examined the current state of and probable future of scholastic journalism in the U.S. Howard also advised a landmark three-volume set of books about the lives of teenagers, titled Teenagers Themselves. Each book consisted of comments garnered from U.S. teens coast to coast about their common concerns regarding sensitive and controversial topics such as sexual identity and activity, addiction, stress, depression, suicide and the search for meaning in a complex world. After retiring from Glenbard East, Howard and Juanita moved to Asheville, but Howard taught journalism and English for two more years at Highland Park High School in Dallas. Back in Asheville, he applied his substantial scholastic journalism knowledge to editing JEA’s magazine and judging newspapers, and writing contests for other state and national scholastic journalism organizations.

In addition to Juanita, his other survivors include the many students for whom he served as a teacher, mentor or father figure, as well as sister-in-law, Sarah Irene (Holloway) Spanogle, the wife of his deceased brother, Duane Richard Spanogle, and their children: Stephen, Suzanne, Sheryl and Sylvia; and sister-in-law, Marilyn Ruth and her husband, Robert D., as well as their daughters, Wendy and Heidi. Howard will be buried in the family plot in Altoona.

Arrangements are under the direction of Morris Funeral and Cremation Care in Asheville, N.C.

Morrisfamilyfuneralhome.com