Paul, my dad, named me after Aunt Ann (Ann Bateman Howard). Mom said Aunt Ann was my first baby sitter. She moved in with mother and daddy so she could help them with me. Her "sterile techniques" were as famous as an operating room. No one dared touch the section of the ice box she had roped off for my stuff!
As we grew older, I can still hear her "lead singer" voice singing in my memory clearly, "On Jordan´s Stormy Banks", or "Where Could I Go, But To The Lord" never missing a note of the melody.
Aunt Ann worked for Consolidated, an aircraft plant, in Fort Worth for years. She wore beautiful fashionable clothes. She had her own tailored, sophisticated "look" to me.
She always set a good example. Mother told me she made the highest test grade, a perfect score, you could make to enter Spur schools.
She had to take this test to transfer from Afton to graduate at Spur, an accredited school. She studied by a kerosene lamp until late into the night, after working hard in the fields. It was an accomplishment and a privilege to get to attend school.
I decided to write this for Aunt Ann because there is just one of that family from the Bateman hill at Afton left, Aunt Alice. They could waltz your feet off and sing and laugh your heart out. A time past, but I hope never forgotten.
Uncle R.W. married Aunt Ann and gave her a son, Bobby, whom they lost in a tragic death. She continued on with Uncle R.W.´s and God´s help. I choose to remember the unique characteristics she possessed:
- A penchant for floors that reflect "you" in their glossy surface.
- Mile-high German Chocolate Cake.
- Faith, unwavering and unquestioning in God.
- Her loyalty and love for her family.
- Elegant morals to match her appearance.
My husband, Jimmy, and I had the honor of singing for her at her funeral service in the little Baptist Church at Afton, Texas. We sang, "Homesick", to say, "see you later on the other side, Aunt Ann."
Written by Jo Ann Hill.
Services were held Saturday, June 5, 1993 at 5 p.m. in the Afton Baptist Church for Ann Howard, 79, of Afton.
Rev. C.L. Atkinson, church pastor, officiated.
Burial was in Afton Cemetery under direction of Campbell Funeral Home.
Mrs. Howard died Thursday, June 3, at Highland Medical Center, Lubbock, following a lengthy illness. She was born in Wood County but had lived in Dickens County most of her life.
She married R.W. Howard in Texarkana, Arkansas in 1952. She was a 1933 graduate of Spur High School and was a homemaker and a Baptist. She was preceded in death by a son, Bobby Howard in 1972.
Surviving along with her husband and a son, Jack Howard, Breckenridge; one sister, Alice Edwards, Lubbock; three grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
©The Texas Spur, June, 1993
From the records of Thelma Scott
Services for Robert W. Howard, 79, of Afton, were held at 2 p.m. Monday, June 28, 1993, in the Afton Baptist Church with pastor Rev. C.L. Atkinson, officiating.
Burial was in Afton Cemetery with Campbell Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Howard died about 2:40 a.m. June 27 in Highland Medical Center, Lubbock, following a lengthy illness. He was born in Frisco, Texas on April 22, 1914 and had lived in Dickens County most of his life.
He married Ann Bateman in October of 1952 in Texarkana, Arkansas. She died in June of 1993. Mr. Howard was a retired farmer and a member of the Baptist Church. One son, Bobby Howard, preceded him in death in 1972.
Survivors include one son, Jack Howard, Breckenridge; a sister, Jerry Brazell, Woodson, Texas; three grandchildren, Lori Covill, Julie Elliott and Candi Knittel and two nieces, LouNell Dillingham, Breckenridge and Tammy Roberts, Afton.
©The Texas Spur, July 1, 1993
From the records of Thelma Scott
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