Mary Emma Howard

Mary Emma Howard (89) passed away peacefully in her sleep into the arms of her Savior on May 17, 2024. She was born on Dec. 1, 1934 in Tampa, FL and graduated from Hillsborough High School as Editor of the Yearbook, and then, from Orange Memorial Hospital-Orlando with an R.N. degree. She worked in a private Dr’s. office, then met, and married her husband of forty years, John L. Howard. They owned multiple businesses throughout the years and Mary Emma’s repertoire of skills expanded far beyond nursing to bookkeeping, cooking with John for massive crowds & churches while catering through their restaurant in Sulphur Springs, and organizational leadership in many areas. She also worked for Hillsborough County Health Dept. for thirty years retiring on May 17, 1996. She began her career there as a public health nurse with in-home patient visits, clinics, and school nursing., but retired as Supervisor of School Nurses for Hillsborough County. Afterward, she joined John at Howard Foods and continued to run it after his passing in 1998. She achieved several awards over the years, including the EDDIE award and the Hillsborough High School Hall of Fame.

Mary Emma loved and enjoyed her extended family, her daughter & son-in-law, grandson with his new wife, & granddaughter, who she has now joined in heaven along with John. She keenly missed the days of cooking for large family gatherings. Her life has been characterized by working hard at whatever she did, but also by serving others in bringing people together (usually to eat good food). She and John, and then, she with her mom loved to travel, whether to their NC mountain cabin, across country, or later on Christian cruises or mission trips with her church. She frequently had still met with and immensely enjoyed her High School Reunion Committee and Retired Nurses groups for lunch as well as her newer friends at Concordia Village (where she’s lived for over five years) with meals eaten together, evening card games, & new roles for her to engage in. She dearly loved her church, Idlewild Baptist, and the Seekers Bible Class there who were a source of friendship, fellowship, good teaching, and service throughout her many years of widowhood. She continued to serve in so many capacities at Idlewild and her previous church, Northgate Baptist, that it is impossible to name them all. In these later years, her younger sister has been an immense and sacrificial help in many ways around her home and the need for transportation after hospitalizations.

Though her personal motto was to “work harder” and “never stop moving” (even when it was getting more difficult to walk), her absolute foundation in everything was her faith in Jesus Christ as her Savior. She viewed her acts of service as serving Him with the talents God had given to her. She had a zeal & ambition for living life fully with open hands to try new things and was also assured of eternity in heaven with God through Jesus. Since she retired on the same month and day as she went to heaven, no more appropriate words can be said than those from her older sister’s poem upon her retirement as she spoke of Mary Emma’s “loyalty to commitment and call”…

“We’re proud of you, Sister. You’ve done good;

You worked on days when you didn’t think you could.

Now the time has come when you deserve a rest

& may your new adventures be the very very best.”

You will be missed, but the new adventures are now in heaven. May He say, “Well done good and faithful servant”.

Celebration of Life Service will be at Idlewild Baptist Church 18333 Exciting Idlewild Blvd. Lutz, FL 33548, Friday, May 24, 2024. Family Visitation at 10:00a.m. Service at 11:00a.m. in the Worship Center with light food served immediately afterward. The Burial Service will be at 3:00p.m. at Garden of Memories Cemetery 4207 E. Lake Ave. Tampa, FL 33610.

Mary Emma is survived by: her daughter, Charlene Howard Rupp, son-in-law, Ned T Rupp MD, grandson, Jonathan W. Rupp (Emily), and sisters, Lorraine V. McClelland (David) and Dolores J. Higham. She was predeceased by: her husband, John L. Howard, granddaughter, Hannah Elisabeth Rupp, and parents, Loren E. Jones and Stella V. Jones.