Sharon Elizabeth Howell

Sharon Elizabeth Howell, a loving wife, mother, grandmother and aunt, passed away peacefully in her rural Pullman home on September 28, 2009, five years after being diagnosed with frontotemporal lobe dementia.

Sharon was born to Willard and Bernice Evans on April 9, 1941 in the San Juan Island town of Anacortes, Washington where she was raised and attended school, graduating from Anacortes High School in 1959.

On Sharon's thirteenth birthday, she was delightedly surprised to find a gift from her parents standing in the front yard - an appaloosa horse! This horse "Pal" became one of Sharon's best friends for most of her young adulthood.

Sharon attended Everett Junior College and then transferred to WSU where she met a young farmer named John Howell. The story goes that Sharon was looking for a pasture for her horse, and John was looking for a horse. John and Sharon were married on August 5, 1962.

Sharon supported John as he farmed in the Palouse. She became licensed as a cosmetologist through Mr. Leon's School of Hair Design. With the birth of their children, she devoted herself to homemaking.

She enjoyed taking weekend trips to Seattle, Leavenworth and Coeur d' Alene and traveling to many exotic places including Spain, Israel, Greece, Rome and Hawaii, always returning to her hometown of Anacortes to visit her brothers, Bob and Paul Evans, their families as well as many childhood friends.

Sharon enjoyed attending Precepts Bible study for women, as well as, a weekly couples' Bible Study for over two decades. Teaching etiquette and protocol to Logos High School students was a highlight for several years as she was a strong supporter of the Christian school, which all seven of her grandchildren attend.

She was blessed to have many long-lasting friendships and was known for welcoming people to her home with five-star hospitality. Her company meals were legendary.

Sharon was a lover of horses and was always a cowgirl at heart.

As a Christian, Sharon depended on God for guidance and thanked Him daily for the many blessings in her life. During the past twenty years she faithfully attended Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, greatly looking forward to the service every Sunday. In her last months, Sharon insisted upon singing Amazing Grace, her favorite hymn, several times a day.

She is survived by her husband John, her sister-in-law Goldenia Howell Banks and family, her daughter and son-in-law Krystal and Todd Flack and children Meryn, Kyle and Lauren of Moscow, and her son and daughter-in-law Andrew and Andrea Howell and children Devan, Sheridan, Ethan and Megan of Pullman, her brother Bob and sister-in-law Joanne Evans, her brother Paul and sister-in-law Connie Evans, and many nieces and nephews.

A funeral service was Friday, October 2, 2009 at 11:00 am at the Moscow Church of the Nazarene, 1400 E 7th Street. Burial was at the Pullman Cemetery in Pullman, WA.

Memorials are suggested to Logos School, 110 Baker Street, Moscow, ID 83843.

The family wishes to express their deepest gratitude for the support and assistance that the Family Home Care and Hospice of Pullman provided during the past four months.

Arrangements are in the care of Evans Funeral Chapel in Anacortes, Washington and Kimball Funeral Home in Pullman, Washington. To share memories of Sharon, please sign the online guest register at www.evanschapel.com.