Thielo Howland, 92, ‘people person’

Thielo G. Howland of 1 Doubleday Lane, a toy industry tycoon and former U.S. Navy “special intelligence agent,” died peacefully at his home on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2004. He was a lifelong boater, tennis player, traveler and family man, known for his honesty, fairness and compassion. He was 92 years old and the husband of Genoveva Franco Howland.

Mr. Howland was born in Berlin, Germany, on July 15, 1912, the son of Nathaniel J. and Clara W. Howland. He attended German public and private schools before he moved to the United States in 1934.

From 1934 until 1942, Mr. Howland worked for an export trading company, living in Bayside, N.Y. In 1938, he met his first wife, Dorothy W. Whiting, with whom he had three children, John P., born in 1941, Deborah W., born in 1943, and Andrew P., born in 1947.

In 1942, Mr. Howland’s services were solicited by the United States Navy. Fluent in German and Spanish, and conversational in French, he worked as an intelligence agent for the Navy in the United States and abroad for four years, interrogating German prisoners during World War II.

When Mr. Howland was released in 1946, Geoffrey Tandy, the commander of U.S. Naval Forces and the chief of U.S. Naval Intelligence in Europe, said, “His wide knowledge of men and things and his outstanding, sound judgment have been of great value to us as well as to the U.S. Navy.”

Those characteristics proved useful in the business sphere as well. That same year Mr. Howland accepted the vice-presidency of H.G. Wathen and Company, and began what would be a nearly 60-year career, selling juvenile and toy products.

In 1965, H.G. Wathen split and Mr. Howland formed the T.G. Howland Co. By the early 1980s he saw sales increase from less than $1 million a year to about $23 million annually.

Meanwhile, Mr. Howland’s first marriage ended in divorce. A year later, in 1977, he met Genoveva Franco and married for a second time. They had one child, Richard F., in 1980.

In 1981, the Howland family moved to Ridgefield. They lived on Pin Pack Road until 1989, when they relocated to Doubleday Lane, where Mr. Howland died in his bed on Saturday.

Richard, who graduated from Ridgefield High School in 1998, remembered his father playing the piano at family holiday celebrations, and teaching him how to make his favorite drink with champagne and fruit.

Ms. Howland said her husband was a “people person” whose broad smile and twinkle in his eye made him stand apart, even into his 90s.

“It’s so hard to put into words, being together for so long,” she said. “He meant the world. We didn’t do anything alone.”

Mr. Howland continued to work until his death, presiding over the Waco Export Co. and the Howland Caribbean Co. in Puerto Rico.

But his love was traveling with family and friends. A month ago, he was planning a cruise. And his one regret, Ms. Howland said, was that he never made it to Kathmandu -- “probably the one place he hadn’t been.”

Mr. Howland is survived by his wife, Genoveva, of Ridgefield, four children, two sisters, and many other relatives.

A memorial will be held Saturday, Nov. 27, at 11 a.m. at Keeler Tavern.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association, 90 East Ridge, which supported and cared for Mr. Howland during his battle with cancer and the after-effects of cancer treatments.