Dr. Howard Byron Quigley, 70, a resident of Palouse, passed away Sunday, Sept. 4, at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, surrounded by family, after 2½ years of treatment for metastatic prostate cancer.
Howard was a widely admired wildlife biologist, with extensive experience and expertise in research and conservation of large animals, particularly of large cats. His career took him to Brazil to study jaguars, to the Russian Far East to study Siberian tigers, to China for early research on pandas and to the Yellowstone-Teton region to do foundational work on the behavior of cougars and other predators. For the last dozen years, he led the jaguar conservation projects at Panthera, a global organization based in New York City, that is dedicated to the conservation of wild cats and their ecosystems. He devoted himself to supporting aspiring biologists, including as thesis adviser to students in Montana, Idaho, Washington and beyond.
Howard was born March 7, 1952, in Oakland, Calif., to Ruth (Young) and Don Quigley. He attended public schools in Oakland and earned a B.S. in environmental studies from the University of California at Berkeley, participating in projects on bighorn sheep and black bears in the Sierra Nevada. After a master’s degree from the University of Tennessee, Howard’s three years in Brazil studying jaguars provided the basis for his Ph.D. from the University of Idaho, under the guidance of Maurice Hornocker and the Hornocker Wildlife Institute.
Howard is remembered by his family and colleagues for his congeniality and hospitality, his attention to the personal well-being of those around him, as well as for his sense of humor. His colleagues at Panthera remember him for his “signature good nature and humor (that) provided levity to the often-solemn subject of saving wild cats” and for the “numerous devoted and talented wildlife biologists, whose hearts and minds Howard guided and inspired.”
Howard is survived by his wife Molly Quigley, of Palouse; daughter, Allyson Quigley, of Santa Fe, N.M.; stepchildren Sarelle Davis, of Bozeman, Mont., and Garrett Parrish (Holli), of Palouse; brother, Dan Quigley (Eric), of Oakland; sister, Joyce Rucker (Keith), of Aurora, Mo.; as well as five grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and their families.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Palouse Federated Church, 635 N. Bridge St., Palouse. Online condolences may be sent to Kramer Funeral Home in Palouse.
Contributions in Howard’s memory may be made to panthera.org for the Jaguar Program.
