Alton Howard remembered for business, religious involvement posted Thursday, November 2nd, 2006 @ 6:21 am  E-mail Story |  Print Story  Family, friends and guests paid tribute Tuesday to local community and church leader Alton Hardy Howard, 81, who died Sunday. Besides his religious leadership, Howard was best known for helping form Howard Bros. Jewelers and Howard Bros. Discount Stores with his brother, the late W.L. "Jack" Howard. In 1967, Howard opened Camp Ch-Yo-Ca, a Christian youth camp, which remained open until 2004.   Howard also was a founding father of the White's Ferry Road Church of Christ and served as an elder there for decades. One of his greatest passions was gospel music, and during his life he penned several books and gospel songs. A number of musicians continue to record Howard's hymnals, which has sold more than three million copies and are sung in churches all over the world. West Monroe Mayor Dave Norris got to know Howard personally through their love of gospel music. "He was a great song writer -- he wrote very powerful music. Some years ago he gave me a copy of a hymnal in which he wrote many, if not all of the hymns. I've gone through, looked at it, and sung them numerous times," Norris said. "He was a very important person in a lot of ways, but I think his contributions to the church were the things that were closest to his heart and meant the most to him. "He certainly made a great difference in our community, and he will be very much missed." State Rep. Mike Walsworth said Tuesday that the communities of West Monroe and Monroe have lost a great man who will always be remembered as making both communities a better place to live. "He was a great businessman in our community and it will be a real loss -- he and his family really did put Monroe and West Monroe and Northeast Louisiana on the map," Walsworth said.  "He was one of the founders of modern West Monroe and he will be missed greatly." "I hope everyone keeps him and his family in their prayers," Walsworth added.