Tribute

The family and friends of Stan Howard are deeply affected by his unexpected but peaceful passing on July 17, 2026.

Stan was the loving husband of Valerie Mati Messager, beloved father of Aaron Lyons and father-in-law to Susanna, proud grandfather of Judah and Mathai Lyons, and cherished brother of Diane Zipperman and brother-in-law of Carl Bloom. He was 79 years old.

Born on April 20, 1947 to Nathan and Ruth Zipperman, Stan was raised in a traditional Jewish family in the Bronx, New York. A gifted student from an early age, he graduated from the Bronx High School of Science at 16 and earned a degree in chemistry by age 20. Brilliant, inquisitive, and determined from a young age, Stan never hesitated to challenge conventional thinking or pursue his own path.

After a brief period teaching science in Harlem during the Vietnam War era, he left New York in search of a different life. Stan eventually settled in British Columbia, where he found beauty and belonging at a commune in Galley Bay, near Lund BC.

At Galley Bay, Stan met and married Jeanne Lyons, with whom he welcomed their son, Aaron, in 1979. The family soon moved to Vancouver, where Stan established himself as a skilled carpenter and contractor, nurtured a lifelong love of music, and devoted himself to spiritual practice. Stan helped create the BC Midwifery Task Force which worked tirelessly for the legalization of midwifery in BC – a goal that was finally realized in 1998.

Stan and his family moved to Salt Spring Island in 1989, where they built their family home as Stan continued his work as a contractor through Sunquest Enterprises. On Salt Spring, Stan also farmed and sold organic garlic, and sang for years with the local choir, Tuned Air. Following the end of his marriage to Jeanne, Stan eventually settled in Edmonton, where he met and married Valerie Mati Messager. Stan and Mati shared 25 years together, often dividing their time between Edmonton AB, a beloved off-grid acreage near Rock Creek BC, and Galley Bay.

In 2022, Stan and Mati returned to Salt Spring Island, where he found great joy living just minutes from his grandchildren, Judah and Mathai. He delighted in surprising them with stories, jokes, magic tricks, homemade treats, and adventures in the forests and beaches of the island, encouraging their curiosity, resilience and wonder. Stan was a committed member of SSI Men’s Shed community, to which he enjoyed contributing his time and experience and from which he and his grandchildren benefited greatly.

Stan was a lifelong learner and insatiable reader who was equally at home with philosophy, science, spirituality, history, and adventure novels. He delighted in building, gardening, basking in natural beauty, sitting in stillness, and engaging in honest conversations with the people he loved. Friends and family knew him as endlessly resourceful, deeply thoughtful, always curious, unconcerned with convention, and exceptionally loving. He will be deeply missed.