Dick Howes - Obituary

Calling time… stall holder Dick Howes is pictured during
his last working day on Boston’s market
(Photo: Boston Standard)

Richard Wilson "Dick" Howes

Dick Howes, aged 74 years, passed away peacefully, after a short illness, on 1 September 2013. Loving husband of Dorothy, father of Estelle and Richard and grandad to Daniel, Zoe, Louis, Eleni and Georgia.

In 2004, Nathan Black, then working for The Boston Standard, wrote an article on the occasion of Dick's retirement from his stall on Boston market.

End of an era for market stalwart A stallholder who has been working on Boston’s market for the past 49 years has decided to call it a day. Dick Howes took over the fruit and vegetable business from his father William - who had started the stall in 1928. It is still in the same spot as it was back then, and today it is in the hands of 19-year-old Charlotte Seekings of Kings Lynn. Mr Howes, 65, who lives in Tattershall Road, Boston, said: "I'm sure I will miss being out there as I have been doing it for so long. “However the one thing I certainly won’t miss is having to put the stall up on cold mornings during the winter!” Mr Howes has regularly supplied produce grown on his own farm to people in the area, and has also sold his fruit and veg week in, week out to customers as far away as London. He will now be devoting more time to his farm, which he runs near his home. He said: “I am cutting down my hours to working six days per week instead of seven now!” He also commented on the changing nature of his business over the years, saying: “Most of the younger generation shop at supermarkets. and people don’t eat as many fruit and vegetables as they should. “It’s all fast food now and the nature of jobs has changed, meaning people eat more ready meals.”