Christine Rhyne Howell

Chris was born on October 31, 1936, in Gaston County to the late Jack R. and Flossie F. Rhyne. In addition to her parents, she was also preceded in death by her sister, Nellie Pettus.

Chris was known for her resilient and vibrant personality, but above that, she was known for being a loving wife of 66 years to her husband, Scott, a loving mother to her two daughters, Beth and Janet, a wonderful friend to many, and a good and faithful Christian woman. Chris found immense joy in reading. You could always find her reading a spiritual book, and she has even read the Bible front to back multiple times. That is, until her vision was taken from her two years ago. Since then, she has enjoyed listening to audible books and her loving husband read the Bible to her every night. She has been a member at Catawba Heights Baptist Church for 48 years and spent a majority of her life as a Sunday school teacher. She also played the piano, played organ and sang. Chris could be described as a creative woman who was great working with her hands. She worked at floral shops, had her own community beauty shop named “Chris’ Beauty Salon,” had a green thumb like no other, and was a fantastic cook. She will be sorely missed by many.

She is survived by her husband, Scott Howell; daughters, Beth Howell and Janet (Danny) McKinney; grandchild, Catie (Dale) Farr; great grandson, Ryker Farr; siblings, Barbara Beale, Jack (Sandy) Rhyne;, and Martha Butler as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

A visitation in honor of Chris will be held on Thursday, June 19, 2025, from 1-1:45 p.m. at Catawba Heights Baptist Church, 311 Belmont Mt. Holly Rd., Belmont, NC 28012. The Celebration of Life service will take place at 2 p.m. at the church followed by the burial at Gaston Memorial Park, 1200 S. New Hope Rd., Gastonia, NC 28054.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Susan G. Komen fund to help end breast cancer at https://www.komen.org or you may donate to Carolina Caring Gaston at https://caromonthealth.org/our-community/foundation.