Mary Merle Howard

The Reverend Mimi Howard of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, died at home on October 17, 2021, of ovarian cancer. Born in Columbus, Mississippi, on November 20, 1942 to Eugenia Wyatt Prunty and Merle C. Prunty, Jr., Mimi grew up in Athens, Georgia. She spent many summers with her grandmother in Newbern, Tennessee. She attended All Saints’ Episcopal High School in Vicksburg, Mississippi, then earned a BA in Geography from the University of Georgia, later earning an MA in History. For 27 years, she worked as an urban planner and environmental consultant, first in Memphis, Tennessee and, beginning in 1985, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. She served as president of multiple professional firms, including Resource Engineering and Planning, Inc.

In 2003, Mimi was ordained a deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida. She served as Deacon at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Tequesta, Florida from her ordination until 2016. From 2017 until her death, she served at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Mimi had a profound effect upon people and organizations throughout South Florida, and beyond. She extended her service to numerous organizations throughout her community, including Executive Women of the Palm Beaches; the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition; and the Florida Keys Celtic Festival. Since 2013, she had been a member of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem Knights Hospitaller (SOSJ), a Christian, chivalric, ecumenical and international organization dedicated to helping the sick and the poor of all nationalities, races and creeds. She previously served as Commander of one of the order’s nineteen commanderies worldwide.

Mimi also had a special love for teaching and learning. For 10 years, she taught at the Diocesan School for Christian Studies, and since 1980 (on and off), she was mentor/director for Education for Ministry (EfM), a four-year scripture and theology course. The volunteer committees on which she served for her diocese included Episcopal Charities, the Commission on Ministry, the Budget Committee, the Bishop’s Council on Human Sexuality, the Diocesan Committee on the Environment, and the Duncan Center Board of Trustees. In many of these organizations, she held leadership roles.

Mimi will be missed by her son William L. Phillips III and wife Lee, and her two grandchildren, Catherine Phillips and Wyatt Phillips, of Johnson City, Tennessee. She is also survived by her brother, Wyatt Prunty and wife Barbara, of Sewanee, Tennessee; sister Holly Prunty Lauritsen, of Greensboro, North Carolina; niece Heather McKay (Andrew); nephew Ian Prunty (Stephanie); nephew Taylor Lauritsen (Kristen Heasley); niece Mimi Coker (Brad); and grandnieces Stella and Flora, and grandnephew Gus. Mimi was predeceased by her parents and her husband Paul.

A visitation will be held on Friday, November 5, from 5:00 to 8:00 PM at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 3395 Burns Road, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The funeral will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, November 6, at St. Mark’s, with The Right Reverend Peter Eaton presiding. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers as an expression of sympathy, the family requests that you consider a contribution in Mimi’s honor to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, to Church of the Good Shepherd, or to the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition (NOCC).