MR. MILLARD O. HOWERTON
November 11, 1913 -
April 15, 1998
At the age of 84, Millard O. Howerton passed away on April 15, 1998, in his daughter's home in Bloomfield, N. J.
Mr. Howerton was born November 11, 1913, the son of Oscar and Della Howerton, near Butterfield, MO., and was raised in Monett. He was a lifelong resident of Springfield, leaving the area only long enough to work in California during World War II helping to build ships. He was retired from the Frisco Railroad as a locomotive engineer and served in many other capacities including training other engineers.
He was a member of the Masonic Lodge, Boulevard Baptist Church, and was a founder of the Ozark Gem and Mineral Society of which he was also a past president.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Mable, nine years ago, and is survived by a daughter, Kay C. Morrow; two grandchildren, James Reichel II, Boonville, MO.; and Brenda Reichel, Hawaii; and three great-grandchildren, Ashley and Brittany, both of Boonville, and James Aaron, Hawaii.
Visitation and Masonic services were held at 4:30 p. m. April 23, 1998, in Greenlawn Funeral Home South. Burial was at 11:00 a. m. Friday, April 24, 1998, in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, near Butterfield.
Obituary and Photos submitted by Kay C. Howerton Morrow
Explanation of the
Monument
by
Kay C. Howerton
Morrow
When my mother died in January of 1990 my father wanted a monument (tombstone) that would tell the story of their lives. Dad and I worked together to create the design. I did all of the art work to scale for the stone cutter, all he did was transfer the design to the stone.
Millard as head of the household has his name on the engine which represents his position as leader of the family. The smoke coming from the engine's smoke stack indicates the train has power to forge ahead down the 'track' of life. The 'cab' of the engine states they were married 56 Years (married 1933).The'coal' car has my mother's name, signifying she provides meals (coal converted energy) to give the engine ability to go. The coal car is filled with 'diamonds', which signify that both my parents had a hobby of: collecting, cutting, polishing and faceting gemstones (i.e. aquamarine, garnet, amethyst, etc. to set into jewelry). (Their grandson Jim, my son, actually does cut diamonds.) The chain at the end of the coal car represents an additional facet of the gemstone hobby as my father also made jewelry from gold and silver. Attached to the chain is a bird, flower and leaf signifying my parents love of nature and bird watching and their hobby of taking slide pictures of wild flowers which they showed as a program for many groups in and around Springfield, MO.
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