Retired Navy Captain, Howard Paul Herbst, 78 of Bristol, RI passed away on Thursday, May 29, 2025, at home surrounded by his loving family. He was the beloved husband of Barbara E. (Becker) Herbst to whom he was married for 19 years.

Born in Denver, CO. He was a son of the late Harold and Veronica (Panak) Herbst. Howard and his older brother Thomas Herbst (Ann) as well as his numerous cousins fished in the mountain streams and lakes, played golf, and enjoyed many rollicking family reunions throughout his life. A graduate of South High School in Denver, Howard went on to receive a BS from the University of Colorado and an MBA from the University of Washington.

After college, Howard served in the U.S. Navy for 27 years until his retirement as a Captain. Howard's Navy career started with a tour in Vietnam, where he was stationed in Saigon and provided briefings for the top brass.  He was modest about his Vietnam service, always mindful of the sacrifices made by other US servicemembers. His specialty was Supply and Logistics. At the Navy Fleet Material Support Offices, he was the principal deputy to the Commander of the Navy's primary logistics information systems central design agency.  At the Naval Supply Systems Command, he served as Deputy Commander for Information Systems, principal deputy to the head of the Navy's supply command.  After retiring from the Navy, Howard made use of his 35 years of logistics and management experience, as well as his familiarity with military logistics, inventory management, and physical distribution to the consulting world. He consulted for AT Kearney, Concept Five Technologies, and Integic (Northrop Grumman).

Howard was happily married to his first wife, Kathleen (Michelsen) who gave him three sons David T. Herbst (Brianna), Andrew R. Herbst (Heather), and Christopher P. Herbst (Valerie). After 25 years of marriage Kathleen predeceased Howard. Some years later, Howard reconnected with his second wife Barbara at their 40th high school reunion. He warmly welcomed her sons into his life, Thomas B. Franz (Monique) and Matthew G. Franz (Lisa). Howard is survived by Barbara and their five sons as well as by their five delightful Herbst grandchildren: Harker, James, Charlotte, Katherine, Thomas, as well as their five Franz grandchildren:  Anastasia Lee (Jonathon), Summer, Jon Jon, Raquel, and Emilie. Howard is also survived by his devote boxer Beya. As a child Howard's family had several boxer dogs.  He continued to love the breed and introduced them to his wives as integral members of the family.

Howard and Barbara spent much of their retirement travelling the world, throughout Europe and the Far East. Also during retirement, Howard created a model train room to delight his grandchildren. Howard had a life-long love affair with trains. He studied and memorized the web of railroads throughout Colorado, often tracing their routes during drives in the mountains. He and Barbara were inveterate road trippers, driving multiple times across the West from Colorado to California, and also many trips between Colorado and the East Coast. The couple maintained a second home in Rhode Island, moving to it permanently just months before Howard became ill.

A memorial service is be held in Alexandria VA in late July. Committal service will be held Monday, August 4, 2025, 11:00am at Fort Logan National Cemetery 4400 W Kenyon Ave, Denver, CO 80236 Staging Area C. Please arrive 15 minutes early to the staging area.