Walter S. Howes' Obituary
Walter Soars Up
Walter S. Howes, Managing Partner-Verdigris Capital, LLC of McLean, VA.
We mourn the loss of a true warrior in Environmental and Energy Finance. Walter was a Man of Action and impact. Walter’s passing was due to a blood clot and heart failure, age 62. Survived by his mother Cynthia, a wonderful women herself and resident of Falcons Landing, Sterling, VA, a Military Retirement Community.
Walter, a graduate of Duke university (1979), and ardent Blue Devil fan, he spanned a thirty year career in Public and Private Finance. He started with Merrill Lynch in NYC, and continued with Credit Suisse First Boston until 1990. He then became a leader of the group in Verdigris Capital, LLC as Managing Partner. For three years (1990-1993) he was engaged in Privatization of the post-Cold War Czech Republic after the wall fell in Germany. From 1997 to 2007, he served at the US Department of Energy, first as an Independent SES, charged with Contract Reform, an later as the first Director of the DOE Loan Program (2005-2007) after passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. His legacy for positive change at DOE remains. He served on the board of the Korea Institute for Energy Research and at Nuclear Duke School of the Environment. For twenty years he served with distinction on the Advisory Board of the Environmental Business Journal. At the US Nuclear Industry council, he was actively engaged in crafting public-private finance approaches for nuclear innovation. He advised on nearly a dozen D.OE Loan Program projects worth billions of dollars in project value. Andrew D. Paterson, a fellow warrior and board member said this about Walter. “He was a GREAT Friend and Warrior. Walter would not want people to mourn, but to celebrate life. Endeavour was His middle name. An Eagle Scout by title and in his soul, those who shared adventure with him knew his zest for new Frontiers.” “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength…They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31
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