Obituaries : * Howard V. Wagoner II; Singer, X-Ray Inspector

Howard Vincent Wagoner II knew how to belt out a tune. And he was never happier than when he sang for friends.

Wagoner died Wednesday of Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 58.

Although an industrial X-ray inspector by trade, Wagoner’s heart was in song. Born in Albany, N.Y., but a 36-year Ventura County resident, Wagoner was well-known for the karaoke parties he threw for friends and neighbors at his longtime home on Santa Ynez Street in Ventura.

“He’d have big barbecue parties and pull out all his karaoke equipment and everyone would sing along,” said his son Ronald Wagoner. “He could really sing up a storm. His favorite was country music, but he was real fond of gospel, too.”

Wagoner also sang his favorites at the Ventura College swap meets, local rest homes and Tuesday-night gigs at a nearby Pizza Hut.

“He sang his whole life,” Ronald Wagoner said. “Singing was always in his blood.”

Howard Wagoner was such a popular local resident that when news of his illness circulated around town, even employees at Von’s, where he often shopped, would stop by and deliver flowers.

“My dad knew no strangers,” Ronald said. “Just friends who he had not met yet.”

Wagoner is also survived by his wife, Irene, mother, Virginia, of Wenatchee, Wash., daughter Rene Tennison of Converse, Tex., sons Howard Vincent Wagoner III of Anchorage, Alaska, Timothy Gerald Wagoner of Pasadena, brothers Wes Wagoner of El Cajon, Tim Wagoner of Oregon, sisters Hope Wagoner and Faith Godbey of Wenatchee, Wash., and grandsons Tanner Wagoner of Anchorage and William Tennison of Converse.

Friends are invited to visit today from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura and a memorial service 3 p.m. Sunday at Grace Baptist Church of Ventura.