Howard Stark

Howard Stark (legal name: Howard Anthony Walter Stark) (b. August 15th, 1917) (d. December 2001) was the brother of Edward Stark, husband of Maria (née Carbonell) Stark, legal father/stepfather of Tony Stark, father-in-law of Bruce Wayne, and grandfather of Tony and Bruce's children.
Born on August 15th, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York, Howard grew up alongside his brother Edward in poverty. He was from a Jewish family, although he eventually left the faith and became an atheist. He was the founder of his company, Stark Industries, of which he later became CEO.
During WW2, Howard worked alongside Dr. Abraham Erskine to create the super soldier serum, which later created Captain America after it was given to the omega Steve Rogers. Howard became friends with Steve, his mate/wife Rebecca 'Bucky' Barnes, and Peggy Carter during the War, although Bucky is known to not have cared for him due to his infatuation with her husband. After Bucky seemingly died and Steve plunged the plane containing the bomb meant for New York into the Arctic, Howard was known to have looked for Steve for the rest of his life. Ultimately, he never found him.
After the war, alongside Peggy Carter, Howard became one of the founders of SHIELD. He also created the arc reactor alongside Anton Vanko, although after Vanko sold his designs for the arc reactor on the black market, he was arrested and deported back to the Soviet Union. Howard eventually married Maria Carbonell, with whom he had one child: Anthony 'Tony' Edward Stark (b. May 30th, 1980). Although Tony is not actually his biological son, it is implied that he had some sort of role in his conception, and Howard chose to "raise" him regardless. It is interesting that he named his son after his brother, as the two of them were known for not getting along in Tony's eyes. Perhaps this was foreshadowing, as Howard did not get along with his son, either, becoming abusive to him. This eventually came to a head in 1994 after Tony presented as an omega, as Howard decided to "sell off" his son through a betrothal contract. He later brokered this contract with Bruce Wayne, who became his son-in-law and the father of his grandchildren.
In December 2001, Howard was killed alongside his wife and their maid/honorary mother of their son, Ana Jarvis, by the Winter Soldier, otherwise known as Bucky Barnes. She had not died after all, but had been captured by HYDRA and turned into one of their assets. Howard's legacy still lives on in Stark Industries, although his memory is regarded negatively by his son.