Arthur Gasque Howe graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1950. He served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of South Carolina from 1954 to 1961 and was the Ninth Circuit Solicitor from 1963 to 1970. While serving as solicitor, Howe was elected South Carolina Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. He later entered private practice and became the senior partner with the firm Uricchio, Howe, Krell, Jacobson, Toporek, Theos, and Keith in Charleston, South Carolina.
In 1983, he began service on the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline and served as vice chair from 1992 until his death. He also served as president of the Charleston County Bar Association and chair of the Charleston Democratic Party. Also in 1983, he was named a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and served as chairman of the South Carolina chapter from 1994 to 1996. In 1995, he received the Compleat Lawyer Award from the USC School of Law.
Howe is survived by his wife of 47 years, Bruce McCaw Howe; four children, Arthur Howe Jr., William Howe, U.S. Magistrate Bruce Howe Hendricks, and Prof. Genny H. Hay; and seven grandchildren.