ABINGDON, Va. – Howard Chowning McElroy, a former Lake Charles resident, died quietly in his sleep here on Jan. 5, 2023. He was 76.
McElroy was born on March 26, 1946, the oldest of four children, to Charles and Verna Mae (Snow) McElroy in Shreveport, La. The family moved to Lake Charles shortly thereafter where his father was a founding member of McElroy, Quirk & Burch, Certified Public Accountants.
McElroy was a 1964 graduate of Lake Charles High School. He was a 1968 graduate of the United State Military Academy at West Point (USMA). Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant.
He began a five-year Army enlistment which included one tour of Vietnam from July 1, 1970 until June, 1971 as a member of the I-Corps. In 1971, he married the former Heidi Hansen.
He entered the Georgetown University School of Law where he graduated in 1976. The family then moved to Abingdon where he joined the law firm of White, Elliott and Bundy where he became a partner.
Howard and Heidi had three children: Karen Mason (Mike) of Abingdon, Chris McElroy of Hudson, N.Y., and Andrew McElroy (Lauren) of Austin, MN. Andrew McElroy was also a graduate of USMA.
He is survived by two grandchildren: Caroline and Rhys Mason.
His siblings include his sister, Harriet Gaiennie; and two brothers, Harley (Priscilla) McElroy and Phillip McElroy.
McElroy began to suffer from renal failure in the mid-1990’s. After an exhaustive search for a donor, his wife Heidi was found to be a perfect match. After the transplant, McElroy was to live for another 30 years with one of his wife’s kidneys.
That surgery was performed at the Wake Forest Baptist Hospital.