“He had a conversation with me about how he needed to get some lights fixed on his trailer so that they were legal to be able to go cut more wood,” she said.
John Howard left to go work on the trailer about 11 a.m. Monday, Corilee Howard said, and she went on with her day, caring for her children and cleaning around the house.
When her younger brother, Eli Howard, came home for dinner about 8 p.m. Monday, he began to look for his father, who hadn’t returned.
Eli Howard found his father underneath the trailer and not moving.
DeGraff Fire and EMS Department, Riverside EMS and the Logan County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene just after 8 p.m.
The Logan County Coroner’s Office pronounced Howard dead at the scene and is now leading the investigation.
John Howard is survived by four siblings, five children and seven grandchildren.
He was a devout Christian, his daughter said, who would spread the word at church using one of his favorite hobbies, the harmonica.
“He’d go up there say a prayer, play his harmonica and he’d have everybody clapping and smiling,” Corilee Howard said.
John Howard would also play at local restaurants and coffee shops throughout Champaign and Logan counties.
“Growing up I always would sit there and he’d be practicing in the house and you’d see the harmonica going on and he’d be singing,” Corilee Howard said. “It was very special to hear my dad play the harmonica.”
It was big deal for all of the grandchildren to get a harmonica from grandpa, she said. John Howard was showing her son his harmonica’s Sunday and was planning to give him one in the near future.
John Howard’s children described him a do-it-yourself handyman. Growing up he always emphasized safety when working under vehicles, Corilee Howard said.
“He was always make sure you have that extra support,” she said. “He always made sure us kids were safe when we were working under anything.”
The family has not yet made any funeral arrangements.
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