Harold Dean Showalter

Harold Dean Showalter, two months shy of his 90th birthday, made his transition to other realms on October 11, 2025. He was working with his favorite gardening tool (his indestructible golf cart) in his beloved backyard when the cart slipped out of control, throwing him off.

He was pre-deceased by his parents, Warren and Gladys Showalter, and two siblings, Waneta Showalter Denton and Glenn Showalter. He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Linda Ray Showalter, his three children from his first wife, Wilma Million: Melinda Bolton (Patrick), Terry Showalter (Sherry), and Cindy Holland (Clayton), a brother, Carl Showalter (Nancy), six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Harold grew up in the Wooster, Ohio area, where he developed his ingrained work ethic by helping out on the family farm from a very young age. After graduating from Manchester College, he taught high school English, speech, and drama for several years before getting his Master's in Social Work at Ohio State University. He had several social work jobs in child welfare and prison work prior to moving to the primary position of his career in 1970 as President of Presbyterian Children's Home in Missouri. He transitioned that agency from a small lead mining area orphanage to an agency with multiple locations and programs throughout Missouri for behaviorally disturbed teenagers. Later, under his leadership, the name changed to Presbyterian Family and Children's Services of Mid-America. Harold helped found the Missouri Child Care Association to advocate for children in foster care and the residential treatment organizations that served them. It was during his presidency that he obtained his instrument pilot's license and convinced a donor to donate a small plane to the agency so that he could more readily reach all the agency's satellite services. He loved telling tales of his many adventures in flying the airplane, some of which Linda and his family were grateful they did not hear about until after he was safely on the ground!

After 26 years, Harold retired, and in 1998, Linda and Harold felt led to move to Hendersonville, NC, where, through divine guidance, they purchased a home on a mountainside with a view of the Blue Ridge mountains and an ill-kept steep bowl hillside for a backyard. Harold's passion became cleaning up, building terraces to keep the backyard from sliding away, planting multitudes of shrubs and flowers of many varieties to attract butterflies and pollinators. He loved sharing his garden with others, both by hosting garden tours and sharing plants, bulbs, and cuttings so that others could experience some of his garden joy in their own gardens.

In addition, Harold loved helping his community by volunteering in the food pantry at Interfaith Assistance Ministry until COVID hit. With volunteers no longer used in the pantry, Harold extended his need for gardening space to include the landscaping around IAM, where he again used materials from his own garden to beautify that space.

Harold also enjoyed traveling with Linda, who dragged him out of his comfort zone with a honeymoon to Australia. Their travels took them to many foreign lands and different cultures, in addition to all 50 states in the US. They had just completed a barge tour in France a week before his passing.

Harold also loved joking with people, esp. if they shot jabs right back to him. However, he specialized in noticing something positive about each person with whom he came in contact, both friends and strangers alike. Everyone who met Harold was touched by his spirit of love and compassion. Even those who barely knew him would tell Linda how much they liked him and what a nice man he was. That legacy of love and kindness continues with his family and the people he touched, as well as through the beautiful garden spaces he created.

He will be missed by all. His family is grateful that he departed swiftly while doing what he loved, in the space he loved working, where he found peace and beauty.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials go to Interfaith Assistance Ministries, iam-hc.org, PO Box 2562, Hendersonville, NC 28793. Shuler Funeral Home has the honor of serving the family.