Elizabeth Melson Howell was born
August 31, 1926, in Madison, Florida, the daughter of Henry
Travis and Mattie (Bunting) Howell. She was the eldest of three,
having two younger brothers– William Henderson and Mortimer
Bunting. William and his wife are dead. Mortimer and his wife
live in Center Hill, Florida. They have two daughters, and
William had two daughters. Elizabeth is as close as a mother to
her nieces.She received her B.A. from Florida Southern College, Lakeland, in 1947, and a M.A. from Scarritt College in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1953. She was in the first group of J-3s sent out by the Board of Missions of The Methodist Church in 1948. Arriving in Japan on September 16, 1948, she served the next three years at Seibi Gakuen Girls School in Yokohama.
In 1953 she returned to Japan under the Woman’s Division of Christian Service and taught at Fukuoka Jogakuin Girls School until retirement in 1996. She was Acting Chancellor of the school in 1981, and from 1988 to 1989 Acting Principal of the Junior-Senior High School. She was an active member of the Fukuoka Jogakuin Church and the Fukuoka YWCA.
Elizabeth retired to Florida and after two years at Sherwood Forrest moved to Riverview and lived there until moving to Brooks-Howell. She collects stamps and loves to walk. She had several trips back to Japan, including one in the pre-Christmas season when she enjoyed attending a performance of the entire Handel’s "Messiah." While in Riverside she belonged to the church in Brandon and was very active in the United Methodist Women’s group. On the day before she left, they had a huge celebration of her life and work. The celebration included a meal, and her family members and the pastor of the church were especially invited. The next day, November 4, 2003, she moved to Brooks-Howell Home.
In 1948 when she was in New York for her interview, she was in a group of young women who had just gotten out of their taxi cabs in front of the Board office. They introduced themselves. She told them she was Elizabeth Howell. The next one said she was an Elizabeth, too, Clarke. The third said they wouldn’t believe it, but she was Elizabeth Tennant. Three Elizabeths, all J-3s--and all became regular missionaries and served out their lives in Japan. Elizabeth Clarke retired at Pilgrim Place in California and Elizabeth Tennant lives in Wisconsin. Elizabeth Howell, we welcome you to Brooks-Howell.