Helen Grace Dale Howie was born November 8, 1919 and died February 24, 2018 at the Orchard in Ridgeland, Mississippi. She was 98 years old.

A Service of Witness to the Resurrection will be held at 11:00 AM Friday, March 2, 2018 at Briarwood Presbyterian Church. Visitation at the church will begin a 9:00 AM.

Helen was the youngest daughter of the late William Rankin Dale and Bette Williamson Dale of Marion County, Mississippi, and was preceded in death by her three sisters, Nola Granberry, Donnie Stennett, and Hallie Patton. She graduated from Hattiesburg High School and attended Draughon's Business College in Jackson prior to her marriage to Wilbur Hugh Howie, Sr., of Jackson, on November 22, 1943.

She was Wilbur Howie's faithful and loving wife for more than 66 years, until his death on March 6, 2011 at the age of 96. Together they had four children, Wilbur Hugh Howie, Jr., Donald Robert Howie, Dale Rankin Howie and Caroline Elizabeth Howie Cherry, eleven grandchildren, and a large company of great-grandchildren, of whom the most recent, twins, she welcomed into the world the day before her death.

Helen was a born and bred Southern Baptist who never lost her deep love and appreciation of that communion, but who, from the time she and her formerly Methodist husband began their family life, was an active and fully involved member of the Presbyterian Church, first in Bowling Green, Kentucky, then in Jackson, Mississippi among the good people of the Central, Trinity and Briarwood congregations.

More than anything, Helen was a faithful Christian who loved the Lord, and was always seeking to grow deeper in her understanding of the faith. She never stopped studying and sharing what she had learned with her family and friends. She looked for ways to share words of encouragement and to live out her faith in practical, hands-on ways such as volunteering for Gleaners and visiting shut-ins. She was a leader in Explorer Bible Study and Presbyterian Women of the Church for most of her adult life and received a "Lifetime Membership award from the Presbyterian Women". At the Orchard she took on the unofficial role of welcoming new residents, helping them adjust to life in their new home, and creating a enjoyable environment for residents and staff alike. She enjoyed her plants, leading exercise, and playing Bridge every week. She was a blessing to all who knew her. She approached her life and the inevitability of her death with supreme confidence in the all-sufficient grace of Jesus Christ, in whose presence she now abides.

Soli Deo Gloria

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Briarwood Presbyterian Church Capital Fund, 620 Briarwood Drive, Jackson, MS 39211, The Gleaners, P.O. Box 9883, Jackson, MS 39286 or Living Waters for the World, 318 Seaboard Lane, Suite 205, Franklin, TN 37067.