Howard Joseph Larkin

Howard Joseph Larkin, II

1935 – 2025

Howard Joseph “Tippy” Larkin, of The Villages, Florida, passed away on April 22, 2025, at the age of 89. As his family gathers to remember him this May, we reflect on the legacy Howard leaves after a lifetime of hard work, dedicated service, and zest for life.

Howard J. Larkin, II was born on June 18, 1935, to Howard Joseph Benedict and Sarah (Scully) Larkin. He was born in the Bronx but grew up across the Hudson River, in Jersey City, with his five sisters. At Jersey City’s Dickinson High School, Howard played drums for the Jersey City Youth Drum & Bugle Corps. He also boxed competitively, earning himself a nickname he would carry for all of his adult life: “Tippy,” after American boxing champion and fellow Jersey boy Tippy Larkin. Outside the boxing ring and away from the drumline, our Tip loved to cut a rug, play cards, devour books, tell stories, and bust chops.

After graduating from high school, Howard cut his teeth at Swift & Company, where he excelled in sales and merchandising, but always put his family first. In 1961, he joined the Gerber Products Company for what was to meant to be a short time. As the company expanded, however, Howard’s brief stint turned into a successful career in business. He was a leader in several divisions at Gerber, managing diverse merchandise from baby food to infant clothing and plush toys, until his retirement in 1995.

Tip believed it was important to give back to his community. He did this as a volunteer, coaching the Parsippany Police Athletic League and serving for eight years on the Parsippany Volunteer Ambulance Squad. Though in retirement, he would leave New Jersey for warmer climes, he maintained a strong pride for his home state, and remained an avid supporter of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a charity named in honor of a New Jersey firefighter martyred in the Twin Towers, which provides housing support to United States first responders, veterans, and their families.

A lifelong sportsman, Howard did not become any less competitive with age. After high school, Tip traded his boxing gloves for bowling shoes, and spent as much time as he could at the lanes. At any given time from the sixties until 2020, he belonged to at least two bowling leagues. In 2004, upon moving to The Villages, he joined the Spanish Springs Bowling Lanes, where he competed on several teams, frequently scoring over 275 out of a possible perfect 300 points, and never being shy to mail newspaper clippings of his best scores to his family across the country. These updates were a sign that Howard’s family was never far from his mind, and that his trademark braggadocio was never far beneath his warm, playful demeanor. Despite having to eventually retire from the bowling alley, Tip was not one to give up. In 2022, he learned to play Wii Bowling and was still rolling strikes well into his late eighties.

Howard is survived by his loving wife and best friend, Mary (Gorsline) Larkin, whom he married on September 22, 1989. Together for 35 years, they shared a long and loving partnership sustained by an enthusiasm for travel and strong commitments to each other, their family, and their friends.

Howard is also survived by his sister, Patricia (Larkin) Kling, as well as his four children and their families: his daughter Kathleen Larkin and her husband Frank Sonnenberg; his son Howard Joseph Larkin, III; his daughter Kelly Larkin and her husband, Martin Baicker; his son Robert James Larkin and his wife, Melissa Vian Larkin; his grandchildren, Daniel Alexander Sonnenberg, Jonathan Howard Sonnenberg, Jacob Kevin Larkin Baicker, Erin Kathleen Larkin, Amanda Sue (Larkin) Cooper and her children, Howard’s great grandchildren, Gwendolyn Sage Harner and Wylie, Jack, and Henry Cooper; his sister-in-law, Ann (Gorsline) Smith, and her husband Elliott Smith; and his brother-in-law, Michael Gorsline, and his wife Tiem Gorsline.

He was predeceased by his first wife, Joyce Eileen (Costello) Larkin, and four of his five sisters, Trudy (Larkin) Brennan, Frances (Larkin) Gumble, Helen (Larkin) Oetting and Catherine (Harrington) Haley.

Howard did not wish to be mourned at a funeral. To his beloved wife, Mary, he expressed his memorial wish in a fashion typical of him: “Just throw a party.”

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A memorial fund under Howard’s name has been established with Tunnel to Towers.

https://dogood.t2t.org/campaign/in-memory-of-howard-joseph-larkin/c687812