George Howard Shotwell, known by friends and family as Howard, passed away early Saturday morning, June 6, at his home in Hurst.
A resident of Hurst since 1990, he passionately served his community for the past 26 years, with 10 years on the City of Hurst Parks & Recreation Board and 15 years on the City of Hurst Planning & Zoning Commission. Howard and his wife, Sandy, both graduated from Hurst 101 – the City’s leadership program, as well as the Hurst Citizens Fire Academy and the Hurst Citizens Police Academy. He chaired the Hurst Citizens Fire Academy Alumni Association for five years and chaired or co-chaired the Hurst Firefighters Steak Dinner for nine years.
One of his great priorities was his support of Hurst’s firefighters. For the past several years, Howard and Sandy drove to their nearby Tom Thumb grocery store and bought one-inch-thick ribeye steaks and potatoes, which they delivered to their local fire station, with shift #1 receiving steaks for Memorial Day, shift #2 receiving steaks for the 4th of July, and shift #3 receiving steaks for Labor Day.
Howard’s career consisted of multiple enterprises that often ran simultaneously. This included R&D Associates, the real estate development and property management company that he ran with his wife, Sandy, for 42 years, and Coors Distributing of Fort Worth (10 years as a board member before becoming Chief Financial Officer and board member for 12 additional years). Howard also managed airport concessions nationwide for 34 years through Dobbs Houses (President of the Texas Division) and Delaware North (Director of Brands and Marketing), including DFW International Airport. He cited his 98 years of combined careers as the reason he was frequently tired.
He loved solving the world’s problems as he and his close friend and former boss, Larry Anfin, met weekly for the past 20 years over coffee. He solved even more of the world’s major issues on Saturday mornings as he joined Hurst Mayor Henry Wilson and his wife, Gail, along with Cathy Brotherton and her husband Bob, for breakfast. Since two of the attendees were on the Hurst City Council, all discussions addressed world and national issues.
Howard’s influence went beyond the borders of Texas, as he received the honorary designation of Constable in the Parish of New Orleans. That honor entitled him to buy a cup of coffee anywhere in New Orleans at full price. He raised $25,000 to build the Hurst Kids Fire Safety Trailer, which is an educational tool to help children understand fire safety. He also personally funded and led the local bond campaign to build the City of Hurst Criminal Justice Center.
After falling short twice in his campaigns for the Hurst City Council, he determined that it was better to be involved in the background. He encouraged like-minded community advocates to run for office and provided them with financial and strategic support. Howard served on the board of the Bobby Bragan Foundation, Casa Manana, the Birdville Education Foundation, and Saving Our Seniors (formerly Mid-Cities Care Corps). He chaired the Northeast Tarrant Chamber of Commerce in 2016 and chaired the Business Advocacy Council of the HEB Chamber of Commerce for three years.
Howard joined the Northeast Leadership Forum (NLF), an organization that promotes collaboration among the 16 cities in Northeast Tarrant County, in 2007.
As chairman in 2020, he helped guide NLF through the first year of the pandemic, and he created a budget for vocational scholarships. He raised $12,500 – much of it from him and his wife, Sandy – and dedicated those funds to skills and trades scholarships that would help train our next generation of electricians, HVAC technicians, welders, IT technicians, healthcare workers, and more. Recognizing the impact he had made with the scholarship program and his leadership of the organization and in the Hurst community, the Northeast Leadership Forum presented its prestigious Distinguished Leadership Award to Howard in 2023.
Ever clever with a quip, Howard reflected on his 80-pound weight loss due to his 2019 cancer fight by sharing from the podium, “As we get older and our health declines, our closest friends become our doctors, lawyers, accountants, and priests!”
In 2024, he assembled a group of like-minded friends to form The Shotwell Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides skills and trades scholarships to high school graduates or GED recipients from Hurst Euless Bedford ISD, Birdville ISD, and Grapevine-Colleyville ISD who are pursuing career training education or certifications.
The foundation awarded its first six scholarships in May to students from HEB ISD and awarded a seventh scholarship at the Northeast Leadership Foundation Scholarship Breakfast on Tuesday, June 9.
The family thanks Howard’s nurse, caregiver, and friend, Melissa Putnam, for her dedication and the joy and comfort she brought to Howard and Sandy, and to Sandy’s caregiver, Denise Douglass, for her caring and loving spirit. They also appreciate the services of Hallmark Caregivers in caring for Howard for this final week. The family also appreciates the medical care he received from Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Bedford and most recently Medical City North Richland Hills, and the EMS service from the City of Hurst.
Howard is survived by his wife Sandy, his son Rodney and his wife Kim, his son David, and grandchildren Karver, Dalton, Evan, Holden, and Josh Shotwell, and Hunter Brown.
Following cremation, the family will host a public celebration of life to take place at the Hurst Conference Center on Saturday, July 25, at 2:00 p.m. Lucas Funeral Home in Hurst is in charge of all arrangements. Anyone wishing to honor Howard’s legacy of serving and caring may contribute to The Shotwell Foundation (https://www.shotwellfoundation.com). For more information, please email info@shotwellfoundation.com.
