Dr. Walter G. Howell

Dr. Walter Gerald Howell passed away on Monday, July 20, 2026. He is survived by his son Paul P. Howell, his wife, Dianna T. Howell, of Pelham, AL, and his grandchildren: Kristen A. Howell, Nathan P. Howell, and 2LT Ian G. Howell of Fort Sill, Oklahoma; son, Michael, G Howell, of Lexington, Kentucky.

Walter Howell is a native of Biloxi, Mississippi. He married the former Ann Patrick of Hattiesburg. A graduate of Biloxi High School (1954), he served three years in the United States Army (1955 - 1958), receiving an honorable discharge and the rank of staff sergeant. He served 16 months in Korea (1956 to 1957).

Howell graduated from Mississippi College (B.A. - 1963 & M.A. - 1964) and the University of Georgia (Ph.D. -1967)

He was a professor of history at Mississippi College from 1968 to 1981 and directed the American Studies Seminar Program from 1971 to 1981. While on the faculty he was a contributing author to the History of Mississippi (1977), R.A. McLemore, editor, the Encyclopedia of Southern History (1979), and the Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists (1981).

Howell was elected an Alderman for the city of Clinton in 1977 and Mayor in 1981. While at City Hall he wrote 242 “Report from City Hall” columns for the Clinton News. After leaving office, he was vice-president of the Kelwynn Group, an educational consulting firm and served as editor of The Effective School Report, an educational trade journal (1985 - 1988) where he wrote editorials and feature stories in the journal.

In 1990, Howell was appointed Director of the Mississippi State Workforce Program during the administration of Governor Ray Mabus and continued that position under Governor Kirk Fordice. After retiring from state government, Howell took a position in the Mississippi State office of AARP as the director of government affairs. He retired in 2009.

Howell wrote Town and Gown, the Saga of Clinton and Mississippi College, which was privately published in 2014. He served as his editor for volumes III and IV of the John G. Jones’ A Complete History of Methodism as Connected with the Mississippi Conference, published in 2015, and wrote Preachers and People Called Methodist in Clinton, Mississippi, a privately published book in 2017. Howell’s last publication came in 2024 with a completion of Fallen Comrade, A Story of the Korean War, with the contributions of Tom Henderson.

Howell was appointed City Historian by the mayor of Clinton in 2013 and elected Conference Historian by the Mississippi Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church in 2018.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, July 24, 2026 at Clinton Methodist Church with visitation beginning at 10:00 a.m. before the service.