Harry Wilson Howell was born in Asheville, NC, on December 24, 1926, to Rowe Bays and Jessie Leatherwood Howell. He died on April 2, 2014, in Marietta, GA. Harry grew up in Gatlinburg, TN, where his father was an engineer and surveyor working on the design and construction of the road connecting Cherokee, NC to Gatlinburg. Harry joined the Navy in December of 1944, serving as a radar operator on a PT boat in 1945. After the war, Harry attended Georgia Tech, receiving his Bachelor of Science with Honor in 1951 and his Bachelor of Architecture with Honor and the Georgia Engineering Society Architect Award in 1953. While at Georgia Tech, Harry was a member of Tau Beta Pi and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. In 1952, Harry married Lillian Hansen Howell in Gatlinburg. They had three children, Valerie, John, and Bob. His beloved wife and son John preceded him in death. In 1998, he was blessed to meet and marry Dinah Raye Parker, who has been by his side through his retirement and final years. In the 1950's, after joining the architectural firm of Armistead and Saggus (now Howell Rusk Dodson Architects) as a draftsman, Mr. Howell worked his way up to being an associate and eventually a partner in 1974, and sole partner in 1982. His professional career focused mostly on hospitals and telecommunications buildings, and thanks to Harry's eye for detail and exemplary design, the firm received numerous awards under his guidance. Mr. Howell was a 59-year member of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church, where he served on the Vestry several times, including a period as Senior Warden. Harry was a member of Kiwanis International and also volunteered for a number of years at Northside Hospital. Survivors include his wife, Dinah Howell of Marietta; son, Robert A. "Bob" (Elizabeth) Howell and their son Andy of Atlanta; daughter, Valerie (Clint) Ard and their children, Jessica and Daniel, of Clarkston; stepson, Justin (Deva) Parker and their children, Eliza and Mateo, of Bellingham, WA; stepdaughter, Alexandria Parker of Lafayette, LA; brothers, Thomas (Velma) and Joseph (Betty) Howell of Knoxville, TN; sister, Anne Mankin of Oak Ridge, TN; and nine much-loved nieces and nephews. The family will receive friends on Thursday, April 10, from 6 to 8 p.m. at H.M. Patterson & Son - Oglethorpe Hill, 4550 Peachtree Road. A memorial service will be held at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday April 12, 2014. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Memorial Fund, St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church, 3110 Ashford-Dunwoody Rd., Atlanta, GA 30319 or the Michael J. Fox Foundation, https://www.michaeljfox.org/.
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