(Oct. 4, 1903-Oct. 31, 1993). Goodwill Industries executive Howard G. Lytle was born in Pennsylvania but moved to Evansville, Indiana in 1918. He graduated from the University of Evansville in 1923 and from Boston University School of Theology in 1926. He began his career as a minister in Massachusetts, later moved to Ohio, and then to Indianapolis in 1934 to take a position as pastor at Fletcher Place Methodist Church.
While at , he worked with the city’s Goodwill program, which had been established four years earlier in 1930. Enlisting the aid of other community leaders as a board of directors, Lytle became Goodwill’s chief executive in 1934 and began changing the program from merely offering relief to training the disabled. Under Lytle’s leadership, Goodwill became a leader in the field of vocational rehabilitation, nationally as well as locally. In 1937, he oversaw the incorporation of the organization to Goodwill Industries of Indianapolis. In 1943, Goodwill Industries moved to the former headquarters of Diamond Chain at Senate and Washington streets. Lytle oversaw the expansion of the industrial work base by subcontracting jobs for local businesses. The organization moved again in 1960 to its headquarters at 1635 W. Michigan Street. This was a watershed moment as it represented the first facility in the nation built expressly for the use of a Goodwill organization. Lytle retired in 1969.
After retiring in 1969 from his position with , Lytle served on the national boards of both the National Association of Sheltered Workshops and Goodwill Industries of America. He also held leadership positions in the Indiana Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and the advisory committee of the U.S. Department of Labor.
In 1981, Lytle was recognized by the Indiana Academy for his contributions to the cultural, educational, civic, and social life of the state. He was inducted into the national Goodwill Hall of Fame in 1991.
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