Eileen Virginia Howard

Eileen Virginia Howard, 93, of Carlsbad, CA, entered into rest, December 23, 2014. She was born on July 3, 1921 in Buffalo, NY to John Henry Rotter of Galveston Texas and Corynne Adele Pitcher of Rochester NY.

She is preceded in death by her sister Joan Kelly and daughter Kathryn Ann Doyle.

Eileen married Harold J “Teddy” Howard Sr in 1948 in Dallas, TX. They were happily married for 23 years. She raised Teddy’s son Harold J “Jay” Howard Jr. and had a step daughter Walda Rouley – All are deceased.

Eileen is survived by nephew Patrick "Gunnar" Kelly and wife Laura of Clifton, NJ; cousin Betty Louise Prachyl of Waxachie, TX; nephew William Howard and his wife Diana of Albuquerque, NM; granddaughter, Beverly Cypert of Oklahoma City, OK; granddaughter Benetta Cypert and great grandsons Ethan and Braden Johnson of Moore, OK; grandson Clif Cypert, his wife Candy great-grandson Sam of Edmond, OK; grandson Michael Long of Mangum, OK; granddaughter Denise Rouley and great-granddaughter Taylor of Naples FL; granddaughter Audrey Rouley and great-granddaughter Hannah of Vacaville CA; granddaughter Maurene Betts of Forestville, CA; granddaughter Katie Petros and husband Rick and great-granddaughter Meagan Ury of Fremont, CA; daughter-in-law Carolyn Howard and granddaughter Lorinda Howard of CA; granddaughter Traci Hehir and great grandsons Kenneth Hehir and Emanuel Robles of Union City, CA; granddaughter Julie Bailado and husband Mike of Delta, CO. Also many foster children that she and Teddy took into their home and loved.

Visitation will be held at Eternal Hills Memorial Park, 1999 El Camino Real, Oceanside, CA 92054 at 1130, January 16, 2015. A graveside service will follow at 1230. Condolences may be left on the online guest book at www.eternalhillsmortuary.com for Eileen V. Howard.

Eilleen Virgina Howard was born to John Henry Rotter and Corynne Adele Pitcher on July 3, 1921,

in Rochester New York. She was raised by her Aunt Jo (Ellis) Clark and her Great grandmother

Mina Frances Cox Pitcher in Parma Corners, New York, on a farm.

Born at the end of World War l, her father served as an interpreter for the U.S Army in France and

Germany. She vividly remembered the crash of the stock market in 1929, which precipitated the

“Great Depression.” With enthusiasm at the age of 11, she enthusiastically supported Franklin

Delano Roosevelt for President of the United States. It was his victory at the poles in 1932 that was

a ray of hope for all Americans. She would tell you that she was a latent politician that never surfaced,

and her interest was as ardent toward the end of her life as it was in 1932.

She was very athletic as a child and loved to play catcher in sandlot baseball. At about age 12 discovered

the wonders of ice skating. Concurrent with all of these things was her underlying love of music,

starting to play the piano at age 5. Great Aunt Emma Cox taught her the piano and how to sing. She

continued singing her whole life including solos, duets and often trios, for churches, schools and performed

with the odd fellows.

Eileen graduated from Spencerport High School in 1938. Showing success through her elocution lessons,

she won 1st prize in the Annual Speaking Contest, as she bragged that she had only practiced for 3 days.

Eileen went to a private business college from Sept 1938 to graduation in June of 1940. She was an

excellent student and pursued this line of work, even though, for many years her heart was never in it.

Shortly after that her father took her to Dallas, she lived with her Aunt Jo and her sister Joann. Attending

evening classes at Southern Methodist University, working on a degree in journalism. She met her bout

with polio and remarkably recovered and returned to Dallas. In 1943 she gave birth to her daughter Kathryn,

who was sorrowfully put up for adoption.

Eileen became a secretary in the engineering department at South Western Bell Telephone Company. She

took part of several jobs, until she met and married Ted Howard March 22, 1948. For 8 months she traveled

with Teddy and saw almost all of the United States. It was truly a wonder honeymoon, as they were entertained

royally by all his business associates from one end of the country to the other. Quickly after that, she became

a step mom to Teddy’s son Jay who came to live with them. In 1954 after moving to Morro Bay, Jay discovered

all these foster children that needed homes. One by one boy’s were admitted to the Howard household and

became a part of their home.

In 1958 Teddy was promoted so they moved to Carlsbad, Ca. Quickly feeling that their home was empty,

they immediately made arrangements to take in 2 sisters. Then after 4 years, 2 more sisters came and

lived with them. Again, the nest was empty so Teddy’s brother Glen and Jay’s son Jerry became members

of their household. About this time, Eileen took a job in a dress shop, something she always wanted to do.

Teddy passed away in Sept of 1971 which was devastating to Eileen. Her Son Jay and daughter in law

Carolyn also decided to move their family to the bay area. This was a very low time of her life and she became

very depressed. Teddy’s brother Glen encouraged her to do get out and do what she loved. She bounced back

onto her feet and started working in the cosmetic department for the May company in Carlsbad.

Feb 1985 at the young age of 64 she decided to venture out and open a little store of her own called “Speedy Post.”

Originally, it was to offer services to the public such as; mail delivery, post office boxes, copying and packaging

shipping material. Quickly, it became a place that the small community of Carlsbad would come to visit having

deli sandwiches, purchase greeting cards, and anything else they requested. Eileen would not waste any time,

she would stock her store with the products requested by her customers immediately. She truly found her niche

which proved to be her true talent in life, a “merchandiser”. It was during this time as well, that Eileen was reunited

with her daughter Kathryn that she had searched for years to find. Excited about starting a relationship with her and

her children, this was truly one of the happiest days of her life.

6 years later she took the opportunity to sell her business as light symptoms of polio seemed to be returning.

Though that did not slow her down with her strong faith in God from a child, she decided to open a wedding service

in her home and performed over 200 ceremonies. At the same time she also found her creative side and made

and sold beautiful walking sticks. She found these to be very handy as she was struggling walking and was not

about to walk down the street with a drug store walker.

In 1999 she could not take care of her home any longer and decided to downsize. Using her creative talent, she

enjoyed decorating her home with all her crafts that she made and talking on the phone with her family and friends.

Eileen was a very strong, opinionated woman, a fighter to the end. She got through life by her faith in God,

supportive family members, good friends and staying in control of most anything she could control.

We are so thankful that toward the end, she did not suffer long. We are truly thankful to know that she is present

with the Lord as she proclaimed Jesus Christ as the son of God, that He was her Lord and Savior, and that he

died for her sins and rose 3 days later. It is only through us proclaiming the same, will we see her again and be

in the presence of the Lord with her forevermore.

Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:23, 8:1, 10:8-10

John 3:16