ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 9, 1996 TAG: 9608090067
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: JON CAWLEY STAFF WRITER
Former Roanoke Councilman and Vice Mayor Howard Musser died Thursday after undergoing cancer surgery.
Musser, 67, died about noon at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem of complications from colon cancer surgery, said his daughter, Jennifer Saul.
Musser suffered a stroke in 1993, during his last term on City Council.
He served continuously since his first election, in 1982, and also was vice mayor for three consecutive terms.
Politics took up much of Musser's life. And he wasn't in it for the money, Saul said, he just loved Roanoke.
"I remember after he had the stroke and he was lying in the hospital emergency room; the City Council was getting ready to vote on the Roanoke Gas issue, and the only thing on his mind was getting an absentee ballot," Saul said. "He felt he had been elected, so he had a job to do."
Musser is remembered for that love of Roanoke, its people and his honesty in government.
"Any time I ever worked with him, his ideas were always trying to help people that didn't have representation," said James Harvey, a retired city councilman who served with Musser for 12 years. "There wasn't a finer gentleman in the world. He was too good to be in politics."
"He was a tireless advocate for city betterment and honest government," former Roanoke Mayor Noel Taylor said. "I don't recall a single instance where he wavered on anything he had said or promised. If there were second thoughts about anything, he would sit down and talk it out."
"Howard had a great feeling for the pulse of the city," Taylor said. "Roanoke being the Star City and an All-American City came about, in part, because of the ingenuity and 'stick with it' of Howard Musser."
Musser retired from City Council in 1994 to run for commissioner of the revenue but was not elected.
After retirement, Musser remained active in community projects, serving on the Mill Mountain Zoo Development Committee, the committee for the Lee Plaza war memorial and the Williamson Road Action Forum.
Musser achieved a lifelong dream in 1982 when he received his pilot's license. "He always wanted to fly, and flew until he had a stroke," Saul said. Musser and Harvey owned a plane together.
Musser also enjoyed building models and doll houses. One of his dollhouses was exhibited several times at the Virginia Science Museum's yearly dollhouse exhibit, she said.
Taylor remembered how Musser, years after being severely wounded in the Korean War, returned to a hero's welcome in Korea.
"They honored him with troops in a special formation and then gave him a special watch," Taylor said. "He remarked how much it meant for him to go back; I think it was one of the highlights of his life."
Musser had lived in Roanoke since he was a teen-ager, Saul said. Before he began his political career, he worked for General Electric as an accountant and billing department manager for 30 years. After leaving GE, Musser worked part time as a real estate agent with Owens & Co. while he served on City Council.
"He had great experience in dealing with financial matters, which became an asset to the city," Taylor said.
"It's difficult to say goodbye to someone who has been as close as he was to me and who labored so zealously for the city and its people. As long as we keep alive the memory of the things he stood for and strive diligently toward the goals he set, he will not die, because we will not let him die."
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Musser. color.by CNB