Good-bye, Joe...
Memorial Gathering Sunday, March 15, 2026 at the Omni Parker House, 2pm until whenever. All who knew Joe are welcome. Read more about Joe and his life by clicking the link.
March 15, 2026
Joe Howell left us last month, a loss many, many people deeply feel.
Thanks to the inspiration of his brother Gordy, and the compassionate forbearance of the Brigham nurses, Joe passed with the taste of Balvenie 18’s sweet smoke on his lips.
Growing up in a three-decker in rough-and-tumble Dorchester marked his life. He worked and worked hard from the age of sixteen. He was so Bahston that he aced the role of the liquor store clerk in the Holdovers movie. Alexander Payne, its director, says that he gets the movie’s biggest laugh.
I got to know him as the manager of a lunch place near Federal. There was a quality about him, intensity? Focus? that struck me. When Federal needed a manager, I offered him the job despite his having no background in wine or spirits.
He nodded, and a couple of days later came back and said, “You got me.”
…and we did, for twenty-four years, until the cancer took him.
Joe gave himself; he gave all of himself, not just to the job but to the people who came in; the customers, his vendors, and his coworkers became friends. At the cash register, his was the first face that people saw when they came in. His presence made people came to think of Federal as a community as much as a store.
Gordy says that Joe was stubborn. He was most stubborn about doing the right thing, doing that right, and also the quality of what he sold. “Good juice,” he called it.
He was smart, and he had passion. He treated everyone like family. A down-at-the-heels person and a well-heeled spirits collector got the same attention. The former as often or not got a handout. Joe was often too generous; he was business-smart, but money didn’t seem to stick to him.
When he saw that there was a gap in our spirits offerings, he took it on himself to fill it and poured himself into it. His passion and hard work paid off. Within a few years, he was on the cover of the state alcohol trade magazine, and The Whisky Advocate named Federal one of the best spirits stores in the country. I doubt that the many people who relied on him for recommendations (his were from the heart and very good) realized that he was totally self-taught.
His heart and veins flowed with good, no great juice.
Joe believed in what he offered. He loved his work and collected some very fine spirits, including some exceptional bottles. We are assembling a list and will be offering them for the benefit of his remaining family, his brother Gordy and sister Debbie. We’ll email it soon and have it at the gathering.
We will be getting together on Sunday, March 15, at the Press Room in the Omni Parker House Hotel in Boston. We plan to start around 2:00 pm and go through the afternoon. We hope you can join us.
Joe touched a lot of lives, so we expect many people. Please let us know if you plan to come, and if you want to share your memory of Joe, let us know also, so we can arrange for everyone to have their chance.
If you can’t come and want to say something, please write it in the email, or call it into us. if you are across the pond, you can call or text me on WhatsApp.
Please pass this on to anyone who might be interested.
Len Rothenberg
Joe Howell Memorial Gathering
Sunday, March 15, 2:00 to whenever
Press Room
Omni Parker House Hotel
60 School St, Boston
Click the link below to email
Joe@federalwine.com
