Sarah Metts Howell

Born on March 4, 1960, in Liberty, Texas, Sarah moved to Houston at the age of four, and so she considered herself a lifelong Houstonian. She attended Walnut Bend Elementary, T.H. Rogers Junior High, and Robert E. Lee High School before attending the University of Texas at Austin. She was a proud member of Chi Omega sorority where she made numerous friends for life. She was an honors student at UT as well as an Orange Jacket. She met Gary there her senior year and they married two years later on March 24, 1984, beginning a thirty-five-year celebration of love.

Sarah was always a high energy person who loved traveling, and she and her family took many wonderful trips to places like Australia and New Zealand, Argentina, Mexico, and several European countries. Her last trip was especially memorable, as she and Gary traveled to Lake Louise and Banff, Canada in late 2018. She was also an exceptional artist and passed that love of art down to her daughters.

2019 was an eventful year, as she found out her cancer diagnosis in March, but rather than resigning herself to the disease, she fought it with everything she had. She invested much of her time last year preparing for her daughter Meagan’s wedding in October, which was a huge success thanks to her detailed planning.

Family meant everything to Sarah, and she invested much of her free time in her daughters’ school, sports and extracurricular activities. A lot of weekends and holidays were spent on soccer fields all around the state, but there was nowhere else she’d rather be. Her home was a welcoming place to Erin and Meagan’s friends, and Sarbear, as she was affectionately known, treated them all like her own children. As they became empty nesters, Sarah and Gary spent a lot of time on the road, in Bible studies, or just binge watching their favorite shows.

Friends were equally important to her, especially in building relationships with friends new and old. Her love language was in the giving of gifts, whether small treasures or notes of love, or in the gift of her time just sitting and sharing over a cup of coffee. No one could feel like a stranger around her, and anyone who knew Sarah knew she would bring joy to the time that was spent together with her. You simply couldn’t be around Sarah and not be happy. Even during her final days she would greet visitors with a big smile and let them know how welcome they were.

Sarah was an active member of Grace Presbyterian Church for over thirty years, and the last year of her life she spent at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church.

Sarah was preceded in death by her mother, Patricia Metts. She is survived by her husband, Gary, her daughter Erin Howell Peace and her husband Lucas, her daughter Meagan Howell Wilson and her husband Hudson, her brother Mark and his wife Gina, her father, Harold Metts, his wife Martha, and Martha’s daughter, Shelley Barber, numerous nieces and nephews, and her beloved pet Maltipoo, Louie.

A visitation with family will be held on Friday, February 21, 2020, from 5 to 7 pm, at The Houston Racquet Club, 10709 Memorial Dr, Houston, TX 77024. Services will be held Saturday, February 22, 2020 at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, 11612 Memorial Dr, Houston, TX 77024, beginning at 11 a.m., with a reception to follow at the church.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made in Sarah’s name to the Brookwood Community, Attn: Development Office, 1752 FM 1489, Brookshire, TX 77423, or by going to Sarah’s remembrance page on the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center website to make a donation in her memory for cancer research.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.memorialoaksfunerals.com for the HOWELL family.