Alta Howard Howes

Alta Howard Howes of Salyersville, Kentucky passed away Saturday, February 21, 2026, at the age of 84. After a period of declining health, she passed peacefully at St Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead, Kentucky.

Alta was born on June 25, 1941, in Salyersville, Kentucky, to Toy and Delphia Howard. She was one of thirteen children, growing up alongside twelve siblings in a home grounded in faith, hard work, and deep family ties.

In 1956, Alta married Charles Newton Howes, and together they built a life rooted in Lick Creek. The couple raised three children: Glenn Douglas (Doug) Howes, Charles Michael (Schnauzer) Howes, and Belinda Gay Howes Greene.

While Charles traveled wherever necessary to provide for their family, Alta was the steady foundation that held it together. She took full responsibility for raising her children, tending the home, and working alongside her husband on the family farm. She was, in every sense of the word, a true matriarch - strong, steady, and wholly devoted to those she loved.

Alta loved her garden and could often be found outside before sunrise, already at work in the soil. She cherished sitting in her porch where she quietly kept watch over her family and the world around her. Seeing her seated there, sometimes alone, but more often surrounded by her family, brought a sense of peace to everyone who passed by.

Her faith was central to her life. Alta was a longtime member of the Lakeville Freewill Baptist Church. Whenever she and her sisters gathered there, their voices would rise together in song, especially their beloved hymn, "The Long Wayfaring Stranger." Those moments reflected both her devotion to her faith and the bond she shared with her family.

Holidays at Alta's home were occasions that required days of preparation. She insisted that the entire family be together at Christmas and Thanksgiving, cooking tirelessly to make sure no one left hungry. her famous dressing, a recipe passed down through generations, remains one of the many traditions that will continue on because of her.

Alta was not only a mother to her children, but a mother figure to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well. Her love was steady, protective, and unconditional.

She is survived by her children, Doug Howes and wife, Paula, Mike Howes and wife, Neysa, and Belinda Greene and husband, Geoffrey, her grandchildren, Christopher Douglas Howes and wife Rebecca, Kenneth O'Neil Salyer and wife Malana, Amanda O'Bryan and husband Joshua, Logan Howes and wife Breanna (Punky), and Colton Howes and wife Tiffany, and her great - grandchildren, Emilia Howes, Jude Howes, Reece Salyer, Reagan Shea Salyer, Cooper O'Bryan, Camden O'Bryan, Lennix Howes, Gunner Howes, Bennett Howes, and Parker Howes. She is also survived by four siblings, Phyllis Howard Casebolt, Shirley Gay Howard Helton, Vandal Howard, and Wilma Howard.

In addition to her husband and parents, she is preceded in death by eight siblings Frank Howard, Lyndon Howard, Wanetta Howard Ward, Joyce Howard, Jolly Howard, Clara Jean Howard, Calvin Howard, and her twin sister, Alma Howard Adams.

Visitation will be held at the Magoffin County Funeral Home on Tuesday, February 24, 2026 from 6:00 P.M. till 9:00 P.M. Funeral services will be conducted at 11:00 A.M. Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at the funeral home chapel with Floyd Arnett officiating. Burial will follow in the Toy and Delphia Howard Cemetery at Lick Creek, Kentucky.

Alta now rests reunited with her beloved husband, Charles Newton, her parents, her twin sister, and the many family members who went on before her. Her legacy lives on in the family she built, the faith she lived daily, and the front porch that will never look quite the same without her.