Donna Jean Howell

Donna Howell was born on April 18, 1938 to the union of Alfred Marshall and Cloe Virginia Thompson in the city of Scotia, California. She was the oldest of three children. She grew up in several Pacific Northwest cities as the family followed her father’s job in the lumber industry. As a young woman, she attended one year of Walla Walla College; when she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes her plans to become a nurse had to be changed. She became involved in banking where she stayed until she retired in 1995. In 1963, her life changed forever when she met Robert Howell on a blind date arranged by mutual friends. They moved to the Hartshorn area in 1967

where she was able to obtain a job at Summersville State Bank. She worked and raised her family in this area, leaving only once for a brief stay in Anchorage, Alaska where she worked for FDIC as an auditor during the savings and loan crisis. She loved her job, but she loved her family more; her lasting legacy is the love that she showed to all who were blessed to know her. You never left her without hearing, “I love you” and usually getting a kiss and hug. She was known by all who knew her as the “vitamin lady” as she was frequently found recommending a “concoction” that would cure whatever ailed the person in question. She loved to read and could be found with her “nose in a book” frequently. She loved spending time with her husband even if it was just to “check the cows” together.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Alfred and Cloe Thompson and her brother, James Thompson. Her survivors include her children, Brett and Lisa Howell, Lorri and Hank Strider and her grandchildren Vanessa and Kevin Doss, Landon and Sara Howell, Taylor Howell, Hannah Strider, Jim Strider and her 4 precious great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her brother, Mark and Mary Thompson. She passed peacefully from this life on April 20, 2017 at Mountain View Health Care at the age of 79, having battled Type 1 diabetes for 61 years. Thank you to all the great staff at Mountain View Health Care who took great care of Donna during her last years on this earth.