Home Going Celebration for Mr. Walter Lee Howell, Sr.

Graveside Service: Friday, January 22, 2021 Viewing: 11:00 AM Service: 12:00 PM Roanoke Chapel Christian Church Cemetery, 3300 Paschall Road, Boydton, VA 23917 Rev. Curtis McRae, Pastor Rev. Oliver Banks, Eulogist

In accordance with the CDC Guidelines due to Covid-19, we ask that you please social distance and wear a mask.

Obituary

”And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:26

MR. WALTER LEE HOWELL, Sr. in the stillness of the early morning was called into a peaceful eternal rest on Monday, January 18, 2021, at Vitas Inpatient Hospice Unit at the Campus of St. Joseph’s Wayne Hospital, Wayne, New Jersey.

Walter, the third of fifteen children was born on September 16, 1928, in Mecklenburg County, Virginia to the late McKinley and Lue Ellen Howell. He married Flora Elizabeth Jiggetts on October 28, 1949, and to this union, five children were born: Patricia Ann, Pamela La-Verne, Joan Maxine, Walter Lee Jr. and Lee Andrew.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife Flora Elizabeth; Five brothers: William Hendricks, Richard, Irving, George, James & William. Two sisters: Martha Mae Green & Louise Langston. Five Brother-in-Laws: Eddie Langston, Joseph Green, Eugene Hargrove, James Hinton, John Russell & Willie Glaspie; Four Sister-in-Laws: Annie, Vanessa, Virginia, and Rose.

Walter joined Roanoke Chapel Christian Church of Boydton, Virginia at a young age, and later joined Community Baptist Church under the leadership of Rev. Clarence E. Bolling of Yonkers, NY. He was an active member until he was unable to drive because of his health.

Walter was an early riser, always up before 4 AM so it was no surprise that he would go home to be with the Lord, and his beloved Elizabeth, before 4 AM also. She had made her journey 47 years earlier.

Walter grew up working with his parents on the farm, and in his young adult years, he branched out to milking cows and driving the dairy truck for L.B. Hodges Dairy. After asking for a raise from Hodges Dairy, and not getting one, Walter took a job helping to build the Buggs Island Dam (John H. Kerr Lake) for three years. After his three-year absence, Hodges offered him five times his previous salary; therefore, Walter went back to work for them. He also drove a hearse, but he was not transporting deceased bodies, only “moonshine”. He said, “The police would never stop and search a hearse,” so he would always drive slow, and the police never stopped him; and he never broke a jug of the moonshine. Seeking a better way of life, Walter moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and worked for a company that made liquor barrels, until April 27, 1960. When that job went on strike and later bankrupt, he boarded a bus and headed to Yonkers, NY, where his brother George was living. He called George to pick him up in Manhattan; however, he had not told his wife Elizabeth he was leaving Baltimore. He just got on a bus, and called her after he arrived in New York, to let her know he had moved and would send for her, once he got a job. Walter did get a job as a mechanic for a used car dealer. He later started working for Ranno Electroplating Company in Mt. Vernon, NY. Ranno then moved to Saddle Brook, NJ which enabled Walter a daily commute from Yonkers to New Jersey, where he worked for 33 years until they went out of business. This happened just at a time, when Walter was eligible for retirement. “In God’s Perfect Timing!” After retiring from Ranno, he worked in Paterson, NJ as a School Crossing Guard for 14 years. Our father suffered a stroke on November 20, 2011. If good health had prevailed, I believe he would still be assisting kids across the street. He once said that he really missed “his kids.” I think they gave him great joy; just watching and observing their different personalities. He once said he could tell at their young ages, who was going to be a lawyer, a doctor, and who was going to be the bum on the street. Walter had a great knack for reading people, and I am sure his predictions came true. Until the time of his stroke, Walter also was a tax preparer, and handy man for his family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors. He could fix whatever was needed in their homes.

Our father was “GOOGLE” before “GOOGLE” existed. Anything you wanted to know about politics, history, the Howell family, families in the Palmer Springs area, or just life in general; Walter knew the answers, and he was just about right.

Walter attended school in Palmer Springs, Virginia up to grade seven. However, he was an avid reader, and he easily acquired the many skills he used at Ranno, and all his other jobs.

Walter’s main hobbies were fishing, hunting and collecting guns. His favorite TV shows were “The Young and the Restless,” and “Walker, Texas Ranger.” We all know he was the family representative at any family function. He was there to celebrate all the happy or sad occasions: birthdays, graduations, family reunions, wedding celebrations and final goodbyes, Walter was always there.

Walter often said that he was never going to die, because he had to stay here and pay his taxes. Well, we believe that he will never die because he believed in Jesus, the Christ, and he demonstrated that belief in how he lived his life always helping family and friends in any way he could. Walter also will never die because he lives on in those who cherish his memories:

Longtime girlfriend: Barbara Williams, of Paterson, NJ: Six children, Patricia A. Howell (Sterling) of Greensboro, NC; Pamela L. Banks (Oliver) of Huntington, WV; Joan M. Inman (Darryl) of Brooklyn, NY; William W. Terry (Judy) of Washington, DC; Walter L. Howell, Jr. (Jacqueline) of New York, NY; Lee A. Howell of Paterson, NJ and Special son Llamar Gaston, Paterson, NJ; Eight grandchildren: Sterling Dixon, Jr.,(Natalyn), Joan Howell, Safiya T. Joseph, Nadia Terry- Long (Marcus), Malcolm Terry, Shanequa Jones, Sharonda Jones, and Jasmine Banks; Four great grandchildren: Taylor Rayne Joseph, Jordan Imani Joseph, Sterling W. Dixon, Elizabeth C. Dixon; Three brothers: McKinley Howell (Thelma) of Newark, NJ; Nelson Howell (Alana) of Bronx, NY, and Larry Howell of Birmingham, AL; Four sisters, Clementine Russell of Palmer Springs, VA; Florence Howell (Fred Hite) of South Hill, VA; Odell Glaspie of King George, VA, and Alice Hargrove of Wise, NC; Two Sister-in-laws: Sallie Howell of Warrenton, NC, Anita Howell of Windsor Mill, MD; A very close niece & nephew, Caroline Townes & Wayne Russell of Boydton, VA; A dear friend Mr. George Nelson of Paterson, NJ; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends.