Henry "Alan" Houghton, 74, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, at his home in Hampton, Virginia.  Born August 13th, in Statesville, North Carolina, he was the second of four sons of the late Henry and Ovaleen Bynum Houghton.  He spent much of his childhood in Concord and Charlotte, North Carolina.  He graduated from West Mecklenburg High School in 1968.

Alan proudly served his country as an air traffic controller in the United States Air Force.  During the Vietnam War, he was stationed in Phu Cat, Vietnam.  After discharge from the military, he moved back to North Carolina and held various jobs including running his family's service station.  He obtained a job with  American Credit Corporation which moved his young family to Hazard, Kentucky.  After a few years, they moved back to North Carolina where he owned and operated the Airport Coffee Shop at the Hickory Municipal Airport.  After selling the coffee shop, he began a 27-year career with CommScope working at both the Catawba and Claremont locations.  After retirement, Alan moved to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where he lived for many years.  In 2022, he chose to move to Hampton, Virginia to be closer to his daughters so that they could help care for him as his Parkinson's disease progressed.

Alan admired and respected those who chose to serve their country.  Serving the country during the highly contested Vietnam War, he often recalled how the homecomings of Vietnam vets were often met with hostility and certainly not celebrated publicly.  He teared up as he talked about being thanked for his service for the first time in the early 1980's, over ten years after his return.  Alan never missed an opportunity to thank active-duty servicemen and women or veterans for their service.  He was proud to ride with the Patriot Guard who honors veterans one last time by escorting their funeral processions.  He also participated in Rolling Thunder rides honoring veterans of war in particular bringing attention to POWs.  After moving to Hampton, Alan would watch the news to track naval ship deployments and homecomings.

Alan enjoyed traveling and especially cruising.  He enjoyed advising others on his favorite destinations and where to find the best food at the best prices.  He was a hobby coin collector and could spend hours sharing his numismatist knowledge with others.  He enjoyed walking the beach searching for shark's teeth, eating sweets, and telling and sharing stories.

Alan never met a stranger and became a friend to many. He would strike up conversations with strangers to soon learn how much they shared in common.  He had a passion for helping those in need.  After getting to know some homeless neighbors along the Myrtle Beach boardwalk and learning that the local food kitchen did not provide meals on the weekends, he took it upon himself to make sure they had something to eat over the weekend.  Every weekend until he became too ill to serve, he provided biscuits and cold drinks to those who, without his kindness, may not have eaten over the weekend.  As he heard their stories, he would do what he could to meet their specific needs.  Alan not only served them but called them friends.  He spent time getting to know them and found out what he had in common with them.  After learning that one of his homeless friends played the harmonica, he would carry his harmonica on walks so that they could play together.  Alan knew how fortunate he was and wanted to extend a helping hand where he could.

An avid fan of Andy Griffith and Leave It to Beaver, Alan knew every line of every episode of both shows and was often the ultimate spoiler as he would narrate every show.  Even until his last few days on this earth, he was educating his daughters, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren on the episodes of those shows.  He had an amazing sense of humor and gave us much joy with his one-liners up until the day he died.  He enjoyed sharing stories of his life and almost every one of them included some mischief.

During his time in Hampton, he spent treasured time with his daughters and grandchildren.  He never passed up a Little Debbie snack cake, pound cake, or cookies.  He could generally be found in a Harley Davidson tee shirt and shorts walking along and sitting beside the water where he took pride in watching the naval ships deploy and return home.

Proceeded in death by his parents; he leaves to cherish his memory, his beloved daughters, Charity Houghton (Makesha) of Hampton, Virginia, Cherish Sherrill (Marty) of Statesville, North Carolina, and Christina Houghton, of Hampton, Virginia.  Alan's grandchildren, Jay and Macie Houghton-Sink, and Davis, Holden, and Logan Sherrill will fondly remember hearing the stories of their granddaddy and how he always had something sweet for them to share.  He will also be missed by his brothers Steve, Kent, and Billy and his many nieces and nephews.

Alan's daughters and grandchildren would appreciate hearing your favorite memories and stories of him.  Please use the following email to share your memories halanhoughton@gmail.com.

Alan will be interred at the Salisbury National Cemetery with military honors at a memorial service held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation in Alan's name to Rolling Thunder National or to Patriot Guard Riders.