Dee Howard, who lived most of his life in San Antonio, Texas, was a true aviation entrepreneur and pioneer in the high-performance business aircraft market. He founded Howard Aero, Inc., a successful aircraft maintenance and modification company where he successfully transformed surplus World War II aircraft into high-speed, long-range business aircraft. In 1964 Howard founded the Dee Howard Company, an engineering company that provided maintenance and overhaul services for business and large commercial jet aircraft. He later designed and introduced advanced technology thrust reversers to aid in slowing corporate jet aircraft after landing.