In Memory

Mrs. Martha Howell (Math Teacher)

Mrs. Martha Howell (Math Teacher)

TUSCALOOSA Martha Boyd Howell, age 84, of Tuscaloosa, died Sept. 12, 2012, at Hospice of West Alabama. Visitation will be Friday from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at Tuscaloosa Memorial Chapel Funeral Home. Services will follow at 3 p.m. at the funeral home with Dr. Kenneth Dunivant officiating. Burial will be in Tuscaloosa Memorial Park. Tuscaloosa Memorial Chapel Funeral Home is directing.

She was preceded in death by her husband, James L. Howell; her parents, A.C. and Dora Boyd; and her sisters, Mildred B. Stillwell and Dorothy B. Ware.

Survivors include her nieces, Betty S. Spradley (Lawrence) and Janice S. Greenleaf (William), both of Huntsville; her grandnephew, Darryl Spradley (Billie) and daughters Taylor and Eryn of Anniston; and her grandnieces, Krista Chambless (Ric) and children Wilson, Wesley, and Emma of Northport, Willa Cummings (Jon) and children Rachel and Justin of Huntsville, and Ginger Caballero (Gary) and children William, Isabella, Lorelei, and Jackson of Huntsville. She was also beloved by the Howell family, including sister-in-law Nelda Kring and husband Arnie of Downingtown, Pa., niece Loretta Fuller of Gordo, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Martha was born October 8, 1927, in Millerville, Ala. and spent her childhood and school years there, graduating from Bibb Graves High School in 1945. She then attended Jacksonville State, where she received a B.S. degree in Secondary Education and the University of Alabama, where she received a Master's degree and A.A. certificate in Mathematics.

She taught for 22 years at Odenville, Decatur, and Banks high schools and Jefferson State Community College. She was married to Dr. James L. Howell, a mathematics professor at the University of Alabama, from 1966 until his death in 2002. Her last 20 years of teaching were in Tuscaloosa high schools before retiring in 1986. She received numerous awards throughout the years for her teaching, including accolades for Math Team leadership at Central High and the Presidential Award for Alabama Mathematics Teacher of the Year in 1986. She was a member of AEA, Delta Kappa Gamma, Tuscaloosa Retired Teachers, and First United Methodist Church.

Pallbearers will be nephews Darryl Spradley, Jon Cummings, Wilson Chambless, Doug Sanders Jr., Rodrick Sanders, and Harold Davis.

Honorary pallbearers are Lawrence Spradley, William Greenleaf, Gary Caballero, and Arnold Kring.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to First United Methodist Church, 800 Greensboro Ave., Tuscaloosa, AL 35401; or Hospice of West Alabama, 3851 Loop Rd., Tuscaloosa, AL 35404.

Condolences may be sent at www.tuscaloosamemorial.com.

Published in Tuscaloosa News on September 13, 201