Lola Spenny Howe

1925 - 2017

Lola Spenny Howe passed away Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017. She was 91.
She was born Nov. 20, 1925, in Ralls County, Mo.
A classroom teacher and local businesswoman, she was also active in her church and community. She will be missed by her family and many friends.
After passing a teaching exam, she began her 41-year career in the classroom in a one-room schoolhouse. She attended night classes at Hannibal LaGrange College and later transferred to the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she graduated with a degree in education. In 1951, she moved to Rolla and began teaching fifth grade at Benton Elementary. Later she taught at the Rolla Junior High School, and, after additional specialized training, she taught remedial reading at Rolla Senior High School and Truman Elementary.
For more than 30 years she managed Williamsburg Apartments.
She was a member of the Rolla branch of the American Association of University Women. In the 1980s, in response to a survey the group sponsored to determine the greatest need of local women, she was instrumental in AAUW's effort to bring the first state-licensed daycare facility to Rolla, Happy House Daycare Center.
She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Rolla for more than 50 years and taught Sunday school for 25 years.
She was a strong supporter of the Democratic Party and held numerous offices within the party structure. In 1996, she attended the Democratic National Convention and met President Bill Clinton.
She is preceded in death by her husband of 46 years, Wallace B. Howe, and by two sisters, Ethel Bunnell and Mae Andrews.
She is survived by one sister, Helen Flynn, of Rolla; a daughter, Sally Howe Bayless, of Athens, Ohio; two grandchildren, Michael and Laurel Bayless, also of Athens; her favorite nephew, Harvey Howard Flynn, of Pittsburgh; as well nine other nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be held at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 27, at the First Baptist Church in Rolla, with Rev. Bob Johnston officiating. The funeral will follow at 10 a.m. Burial will be at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Salt Lick Cemetery in Ralls County.
Friends are asked to send cards of condolence to the family in care of Null and Son Funeral Home, 1010 Kingshighway, Rolla, MO, 65401. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Missouri Baptist Children's Home.
Online condolences may be offered at www.nullandsonfuneralhome.com.
All arrangements are under the direction of the Null and Son Funeral Home of Rolla.