Mary Wilmerth Howell

Mary Wilmerth Howell was born September 1, 1928 in Tampa, Florida to Jesse and Julia Hill. She lived on East Broad Street in Tampa for her entire childhood and attended Hillsborough High School.

In 1947 Mary married Kevin E. Howell and together they had four children in fairly quick succession: Linda, Kevin, Kenneth, and Ron. Her husband Kevin worked in the Insurance industry while Mary was a homemaker.

In mid-life, Mary returned to college and obtained Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of South Florida and subsequently began teaching at the Seminole Presbyterian Day School. Through many years of teaching English, she was much loved and admired.

Mary was a faithful member of Seminole Presbyterian Church where she taught Sunday School weekly for many years. She shared her love of the Bible with many people, not the least with her own children. In the years of their retirement, Mary and Kevin had the opportunity to travel in North America and Europe where they enjoyed many hours together as a married couple. During these same years she devoted much of her time to her growing number of grandchildren and to teaching the Bible at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Tampa. She was always a much beloved teacher.

When her husband Kevin died on September 5, 2010, Mary’s daughter Linda came to live with her. Linda cared for her mother diligently until 2018 when Mary needed more specialized care. Her son Kevin and his wife Gaile then took her into their home until her death on October 4, 2022.

Mary Howell is survived by her four children, (Linda, Kevin, Kenneth, and Ron), by fourteen grandchildren and twenty-three great grandchildren.