Walt Howald named Newport Beach’s citizen of the year
It was while attending a Friends of Newport Beach Animal Shelter meeting in City Hall earlier this month that Walt Howald was taken by surprise by a flock of individuals who showed up to announce he’d been named citizen of the year.
“I was very surprised and I’m still surprised,” Howald said in a phone interview Thursday about the news he received during that Sept. 2 meeting. “There’s so many people that have received this award. I’m just amazed. I appreciate it very much. I’m honored by it and I’m just humbled, frankly, because I just was. I love Newport Beach and where I can pitch in, I want to and I have and I will.”
Howald will be honored at a dinner in November alongside last year’s winner, Joe Stapleton. Winners are selected by a committee of past awardees, who met in late August to consider candidates for this year’s award, according to Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive officer Steven Rosansky.
Rosansky and past citizen of the year honorees were the ones who surprised Howald with the news.
The award dates back to 1949 and is meant to honor residents that are respected and admired by community members for that individual’s respective contributions to Newport Beach.
“Walt certainly checks all the boxes of what we would expect in a citizen of the year,” said Rosansky in an interview. “He has long-standing service in the community and is someone who’s devoted to making Newport Beach a better place.”
Howald is currently a commissioner on the Newport Beach Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission, a member of the Friends of OASIS board and a treasurer for the Friends of the Newport Beach Animal Shelter.
He also served as an elected trustee of the Coast Community College District for little over two decades. His late father, Grant Howald, was Corona del Mar’s first postmaster and an activist in his own right.
“It’s always been if there’s something that needed to get done, the best thing to do is to do it and that’s what I’ve tried to do as we’ve gone along,” the 82-year-old Howald said during his interview with the Daily Pilot. “Not because I expected any reward, but just because I love living here.”
He said he moved to Corona del Mar from Valley Center, Kansas in 1950, about a year or two after his father relocated to Orange County from the Midwest for work.
He still makes his home in Corona del Mar. His two children attended local schools.
“So, we’re an entrenched family,” Howald said with a laugh.
He said Newport Beach is a fabulous place to live and that his parents were great mentors in encouraging him to contribute.
“I don’t know that it runs in the family, but at least I’ve always enjoyed working with people and doing what I could and putting people together and getting things accomplished,” said Howald.
“So, it motivates me. Still does,” he added. “Now we’re working on projects that will hopefully help the community and preserve all the great things we have here — great weather, great police officers, great first responders.”
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