January 5, 2026
FRANK M. HOWE DIES
OF HEART DISEASE.
WAS AN ARCHITECT OF INTER-
NATIONAL NOTE.
R. A. Long Building, Jewish Temple
and Many Other Important Kan-
sas City Structures Were
Planned by Him.
Frank Maynard Howe of the firm Howe & Hoit, an architect of international note whose name is associated with some of the most important buildings in Kansas city, died at his home, 1707 Jefferson street, at 7:30 o'clock last night of heart disease.
Mr. Howe, who was 59 years old, had been quite ill since June last. On July 6, accompanied by Mrs. Howe and their daughter, Miss Dorothy Howe, he toured Great Britain, Holland, Germany and France, in the hope of recovering his failing health, but when he returned October 7 he was but little improved.
Besides the widow, Mrs. Mary E. Howe, and the daughter, Miss Dorothy, there is another daughter, Mrs. Katherine Howe Munger, who lives at the family home. There is one grandchild, Nancy Munger, 3 years old.
When Mr. Howe came to Kansas City in 1885, the architectural firm of Van Brunt & Howe was established, in connection with a similar firm in Boston, Mass. Several years later Mr. Van Brunt came here. At the death of Mr. Van Brunt, seven years ago, the firm of Howe & Hoit was organized.
PLANNED SOME BIG BUILDINGS.
Mr. Howe was the architect of some of very prominent buildings, among them the Electricity building at the Columbian exposition, Chicago, in 1893, where he was also a member of the board of consulting architects. He held a similar position at the Louisiana Purchase exposition in St. Louis in 1904. Among Mr. Howe's first works was the Union station at Worcester, Mass.
He was born in West Cambridge, Mass., now known as Arlington, and was a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Some of the well-known home buildings of which Howe was an architect were the following: R. A. Long building, Emery, Bird, Thayer Dry Goods Company store, Fidelity Trust Company, United States and Mexican Trust Company, Reliance building, Scottish Rite temple and St. Mary's hospital.
Among the houses of worship he planned were the new Jewish temple, the Independence Boulevard Christian church and he was building the Linwood Boulevard Christian church. He also planned the homes of Kirk Armour, Mrs. F. B. Armour and Charles Campbell.
When Mr. Howe died he was planning to build for R. A. Long a $1,000,000 home at Independence and Gladstone boulevards, which with stables, conservatory and other buildings, will occupy a full block.
Mr. Howe was a member of the Elm Ridge Club and the Knife and Fork Club, and was president of the Philharmonic Society throughout its existence. As a great-grandson of Isaac Howe, who fought at the battle of Lexington, he was selected for membership in the Sons of the Revolution. Mr. Howe's ancestors were English Puritans and came to Massachusetts in the seventeenth century. He was a member of Ararat temple, Mystic Shrine, and a thirty-second degree Mason.
His principal avocations were painting water colors and music. He played the piano and the pipe organ.
Labels: architects, Boston, Chicago, churches, death, Elm Ridge, Jefferson street, Jews, Knife and Fork Club, Lexington, R A Long building, St Louis
