Joseph Lee Howard

Joseph Lee Howard, 61, died at his home in Charlotte on Nov. 3, 2023.
Joseph was born on May 30, 1962 in Charlotte, NC, to Robert H. Flowers and Doris Anne Gullette Flowers. He graduated from Conard High School in West Hartford, Conn., and LSU Shreveport in Shreveport, La., where he was editor of the campus newspaper.
Lee started his newspaper career as a sports stringer for the Hartford Courant in high school. During college, he worked at the Shreveport Times and then after graduation moved across the hall to the Shreveport Journal as a police beat reporter. It was there he met his future wife, Salem Macknee. The couple moved to Raleigh, NC where Lee covered City Hall for the Durham Sun, and from there to Springfield, Mo., where they both worked in the Springfield News-Leader newsroom. Then it was The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., where he covered multiple beats including indigenous communities, gaming, and the military, and then the Business Journal in Charlotte, where Lee's beat was commercial real estate, which led him to a career change into general contracting.
Lee was predeceased by his parents and his beloved Uncle Thomas Gullette of Louisiana, Aunt Lois Gullette and honorary aunt Jane Lancaster, both of Hattiesburg, Miss. He is survived by his wife, Salem Macknee, of Durham; daughters Madeline Howard, Esq., of New York, N.Y., Abigail Howard (Tony Howard-Arias) of Toronto, Ont.; and Guthrie Howard of Charlotte.
A memorial service is planned at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 21, at Cordelia Park Indoor Pavilion, 650 E. 24th St., Charlotte NC 28205.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you donate in Lee's memory to the Dowd YMCA in Charlotte, where he was a regular. Online: www.ymcacharlotte.org/give (please indicate the Dowd YMCA as your branch).
By Mail:
Dowd YMCA
Attn: Financial Development
400 E Morehead Street
Charlotte, NC 28202