Nan H. Howard

Published 11:00 pm Thursday, January 24, 2013

Nan H. Howard passed away on Saturday, December 1, 2012 at Treemont Health Care in Houston, TX. She was born in Troy, AL. on January 27, 1922 to Nannie Ruth Thomas Howard and Joseph Clarence “Shag” Howard and named Nannie Glynn.

Nan Howard

After working in the Office of Strategic Service in Washington DC, she joined the Women’s Army Corps. She served in the WACs 1945-1954, attaining the rank of Master Sergeant. For her mother and father in Alabama she and her brother Jimmy built with their own hands a good sturdy farmhouse. They had the can-do spirit of their great generation. While stationed at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, Nan met Lieutenant Richard Irving Howard. They wed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX. and left the U.S. Army for Pocatello, Idaho, where he worked as a project engineer. They had a daughter. After a divorce, Nan returned to Alabama and earned a teacher’s degree from Troy State College before relocating to Columbus, GA. with her widowed mother and her daughter. She taught elementary school for many years and earned a Masters of Education from Georgia State University. Her teaching career was followed by a long and happy retirement. Whether on the family farm in Troy, visiting national parks with her daughter, or in her own yard in Columbus, she loved nature and could identify many plants, birds and animals. She walked with friends at Cooper Creek Park at the crack of dawn or earlier five days a week. She loved to dance and socialize at the Gallops Senior Center. She was a long-time member of Edgewood Baptist Church. Stricken with Alzheimer’s in her late 80’s, she moved to The Gardens at Calvary Assisted Living. The daily care of the staff, the pastoral care of Chaplain Vern Jordin, the fellowship of her friends and neighbors at The Gardens made her glad. In her last few months she had Hospice care, first in Columbus, then in Houston and passed away peacefully. She was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters, Nell Martin and Jewell Satterfield, her brothers, James Howard and John Howard and her nephews, William Satterfield and John Howard. She is survived by her daughter, Alexis Glynn Latner of Houston, TX. and by beloved nephews and nieces: Roy Roughton, Judy Roughton, C.D. Roughton and Carol Roughton, of Columbus, GA; Robert Howard of Troy, AL; Carolyn Coody, Rhonda Freeman, Angela Howard, Sharon Murphy, and Patricia Satterfield and all of their descendants, who were dear to her. A memorial service was held at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Houston, TX. December 13, 2013 with Rev. Lisa Hunt officiating. Interment of ashes will be at Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, AL. on Saturday, January 26, 2013 at 11:30 a.m. with Rev. Michael Alsup officiating, Skeen Funeral Home of Troy directing. Military honors will be conducted by Charlie’s Angels. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to the National Audubon Society http://www.audubon.org/, Columbus Hospice http://www.columbushospice.com/ or Houston Hospice www.houstonhospice.org.