1933-2025
16th December 2025
Joseph Howgego
Born 4th April 1933
Died 27th March 2025, aged 91 yrs.
Joe was born in Crewe on 4th April 1933, the only child of Edward and Alice Howgego. His early life was spent in Rochdale growing up during the Second World War. Later, he attended Manchester Grammar School where he excelled at languages and was encouraged to apply to Cambridge, winning an Exhibition to Queens’ where he read Modern & Medieval Languages, specialising in French and German. Whilst at Queens’, he took an active part in college life, playing tennis and soccer for college teams and represented the University at table-tennis. He was also a talented musician singing tenor in the St Margaret’s Society choir and playing violin.
Whilst in Cambridge he met his future wife Barbara, who was studying at Homerton teacher training college at the time. They were both members of the Robert Hall Baptist Society and they sang together in a church choir. They married in 1956 and lived on the Wirral, where Joe took up his first teaching post at Birkenhead School.
As Joe’s career progressed, he moved to King’s School, Chester to teach languages. In1963, a further move took him to Southport, Merseyside where he became Head of Modern Languages at King George V Boys’ Grammar School when he was just 30 years old.
Joe’s next career step took him to Scotland in 1967. This was a move away from teaching into the Scottish Schools Inspectorate where he became an HMI, based in Edinburgh. He had a passion for the education of young people and this was an environment where he felt he could best help drive standards and the development of the education system as a whole.
As a rising star of the Inspectorate, in 1978 he became a District Inspector for the NE of Scotland which meant a move to Aberdeen. He led a team of HMIs for the area which also included the Orkney and Shetland Islands; this gave him a fascinating insight into the challenges of delivering a modern education in remote areas. After 5 years in Aberdeen, he was promoted to the position of Chief Inspector for Further Education which took his job back to Edinburgh.
After a successful career, Joe retired at age 60 and he and Barbara spent 20 more happy years living in Scotland. He continued to be active as an elder in their village church, supporting local organisations and playing golf. However, as much as they loved living there, in 2013, they decided to return to Southport to be nearer family.
Much as Joe’s life included success in many areas, perhaps his proudest achievement was his family: his wife, 4 sons,10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. Especially in later life, his family was a particular pleasure and he often spoke about how important it is to support and cherish those close to you. Joe died peacefully of old age on 27th March 2025 after a long and fulfilled life. He was a much-loved, husband, father, father-in-law, uncle, grandfather and great-grandfather.
– Obituary by W J Howgego, Joe’s son
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