Howard Ceril Sarvis was born on May 13, 1900 to Eugene and Geneva Sarvis in Cozad, Nebraska. He and his family moved to Boise, Idaho in 1910. Here he graduated from Boise High School and afterward attended the University of Idaho.

While in attendance at the university, Sarvis enlisted in the Army on October 1, 1918 when he was 18 years old. At the university he was a member of the Student Army Training Corps, Section A during World War I. While on campus he also participated in it's betterment. In 1922 he participated in Campus Day, a day where students volunteered to work on projects around campus. This included repairs, clean up, and other duties. He was a lieutenant for Project No. 33, who responsibilities included collection and handing out tools to other group members.

In 1931, Sarvis found himself in Mexico. He allegedly went their to write and while he was there met his wife Carmen Caray Chapa. They married in 1932. Sarvis served at Fort Benning, Georgia, in the Human Recourses Research Unit for the Army. He taught "Train Fire," a program he developed. A large part of his later life was spent working with the timber industry and the army engineers. He also owned a store near New Meadows, Idaho called Boudler Creek Station. One very incredible moment in history Sarvis witnessed was when the United States tested their first atomic bomb at the Nuclear Testing Site in Nevada. He was at ground zero.