Jonathan Howard

Jonathan Howard

Jonathan Robert Howard, 47, of Gilroy, Calif., died Dec. 8, in St. Louis Hospital of complications from end stage liver disease.

Jonathan is survived by his daughter, Bailey Howard of Gilroy, Calif.; his brother, Brian Howard of Morgan Hill, Calif.; his sister, Julie Butler of Underhill, Vt.; his father, Daniel Howard of Sarasota, Fla. He was preceded in death by his mother, Lynne Howard of Gilroy; his maternal grandparents, Bob and Betty Koontz of Edgar; and his paternal grandparents, Bill and Yvonne Howard of Lakeville, Mass.

Jonathan was born in Radford, Va., in 1973. His family moved around frequently and as a child, Jonathan lived in Virginia, Alabama, Arizona,

Colorado, Alaska, California and Vermont. Jonathan graduated from Hartford High School in Hartford, Vt., in 1992, where his football team won back-to-back state championships his junior and senior years.

He went on to redshirt his freshman year at West Virginia Wesleyan University. He moved from West Virginia back to Vermont to be closer to his friends and eventually made it to Morgan Hill, Calif., where his family had relocated.

Jonathan welcomed his daughter, Bailey, in 1999 while living in San Diego. He worked as a paraprofessional for Gilroy Unified School District from 2006 until 2019 at Antonio Del Buono Elementary, Rucker Elementary, Las Animas Elementary and Christopher High School.

He coached football at Christopher High from 2011

to 2019 and was involved with both the boys and girls basketball programs.

A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m., Sunday at the Edgar Cemetery.