Howard Daniel Ivey

The EMS team offers our sincerest condolences

Howard (Tootsie at the time) and I grew up in the same neighborhood. He lived on Bollingbrook, and I lived on Fleetwood. We were good friends, but we were street rivals. I saw in his obituary that he enjoyed playing in the woods, and we most definitely did that. The woods around Beecher Hills were the perfect setting for boys to grow up. We had dirt clod battles, built underground forts, raced hand made go carts made out of 2 x 4 ‘s and plywood down Bollingbrook, rode bicycles everywhere, played baseball in the street at the entrance to Fleetwood and football in a backyard at the other end of Bollingbrook. We even had BB gun battles, but you had to aim below the waist. I can’t believe we all made it to our later teens without any serious injuries or worse. It was a great time and place to grow up that gave many memories that will last forever. I have to admit I was quite jealous of his motorcycle and new Camaro that he got in high school. We did not stay in touch after graduating from Southwest, but I remember seeing him at one early reunion when he had shoulder length hair, and I am sorry we were not able to find him for our 50th reunion in 2019. It is so sad as we lose those close friends from our youth but the memories live on. I am so glad to hear that Howard did have a loving family and that he did find success and happiness in his adult life.