On Oct. 18, Harry M. Linowes of Bethesda, Maryland, died quietly at his home surrounded by family. He was predeceased by his loving wife Judie (Bierman) Linowes, to whom he was married for over 70 years. Loving father to Jeffrey (Elyse) Linowes, Ronni (Rich) Savran, Gary (Mindy) Linowes and Steven (Vanessa Bartram) Linowes. He was the loving Poppy to his 23 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He was also predeceased by his brothers and their wives, Sol M. (Toni) Linowitz, David F. (Dorothy) Linowes and R. Robert (Ada) Linowes. He was born in Trenton, New Jersey, to Rose and Joseph Linowitz.
He graduated from Rutgers University in 1948. He joined the Army in 1950 and, when he was discharged, he joined his brothers in Washington, D.C., and worked for the Government Accountability Office and Internal Revenue Service. He went to work with his brother, Dave, at Leopold & Linowes and became managing partner in 1963. In 1986, he merged his firm with BDO and became a managing partner until his retirement in 1996.
Harry loved to travel with Judie and they traveled all over the world. They traveled to more than 56 countries and kept a map on his office wall with pushpins of all the countries they had traveled to together. When he wasn’t traveling just with Judie, he loved to vacation with the family. He especially loved the beach vacations that started out with just Judie and the four kids and grew to need two houses to fit everyone! Nothing made him happier than when the whole family was together.
After his family, the most important aspect of his life was giving back to the community. He was president of numerous organizations such as Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, D.C. Institute of CPAs, National Children’s Center and Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington. He was chairman of Washington Performing Arts, public radio station WAMU, Accountants Division of United Way and SPRY. These were just a few of the positions he held over his long life.
As a result of his tireless work in the community, he received a number of awards for his dedication. He received the Public Service Award from AICPA, The Ottenstein Award from JSSA, Gulick Award from Camp Fire Girls, Bronze Stone Award from Boy Clubs of America, the Washingtonian of the Year Award and the Golden Links Award from the Board of Trade.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Washington Performing Arts, Adas Israel Congregation, Bender JCC of Greater Washington and Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. Arrangements entrusted to Torchinsky Hebrew Funeral Home, 202-541-1001.