The sixth child of Dude and Sarah; some may have overlooked Howard as just another Newell offspring. He was usually rather quiet, except when Robert was doing something mischievous, and then he could get pretty vocal.

During his first years of school he seemed to struggle academically. However, that fact was completely remedied when it was discovered that he could not see well. He was totally unable to see the chalkboard where many of the assignments or questions were written. When he received his first pair of glasses, it opened a whole new world for him. He would not only catch up with his classmates, but would quietly surpass them in achievement.

Given the leading role in a highschool play, he not only mastered all his lines first, but was truly the "star" of that comedy.

Becoming a petroleum engineer must have been a breeze for him. He would ultimately go to work for Conoco, and continue to do so until retirement. Then he would go back to work as a consultant--even working in Venezuela as the senior consultant in the building of a new petro-chemical plant. He'd come a long way from the unassuming boy who worked in the fields of the family farm to the man who had the knowledge and expertise to command an entire workforce.

In my opinion, however, his greatest achievement was marrying Elva, and fathering two handsome, talented sons.

After being away for many years, Howard and Elva returned to Shawnee to buy their retirement home. His life was cut short by the cancer that besieged him in 2003.

- Janet Tate