Robert F. Howell

Robert F. Howell was born on August 15, 1936 to William and Helen Howell in Scranton, PA. He grew up when times were hard as World War II was slowly building. From all events, he had a very happy childhood. Sadly, when he was young (16), he lost his father. That quickly moved him to adulthood to take care of his mother, which did up to her death. When he was old enough, he wanted to join the military but couldn’t get past the back physical. His dad severed in World War I and wanted very badly to follow in his footsteps. He would gladly take about his dad and all the work he did in the American Legion. In his early years, he went to school to be an auto mechanic and worked on cars. Somewhere in his early years he turned to being a stock car driver. He would race every Saturday night at a placed called MOC-A-TEK Speedway (a dirt track in NE PA). When asked about those days, he would gladly talk about them and what he went thru while racing. With a family starting to grow, he realized that his family was more important than racing and hung up his helmet for good in the early 60’s. On June 6th 1960, he married Mary Ann Seftchick and started a family in 1961. His love for his family was very deep as he would give up his own enjoyment if it meant something for his wife or children. He often sad he wanted his children to have a better life than his and wanted them all to get a higher education as he figured that was the path to brighter future. He gave up a lot so each child would have the same opportunity in life. He treated them all the same and keep looking out for them his whole life. After years of being a mechanic he decided that he would go to truck driving school and learn to drive truck. His first job as a truck driver was with a company based in Northampton, PA. Not sure if it would last, he would go down on Monday and return back home to Scranton on Friday. This played on him and he started to look for homes in the Lehigh Valley Area. In the fall of 1969 (?), he moved his family to an area outside Walnutport, PA. At the time, this place was out in the country. Farm fields were all over the place and the road across the house was still dirt. A city boy moves to the country. He must have known what was best for the family as he stayed there for 30 years. In 1999 he retired as a truck driver and moved to Safety Harbor, FLA. He enjoyed his years in Safety Harbor. Robert loved watching NFL football and loved following the Philadelphia Eagles. Come Sunday, you could always find him watching football, looking for the Eagles game. Even when he moved to Safety Harbor, FLA, he stilled keep up with the Eagles. He would love talking with his oldest son about the team as he was still in NE PA and could relate any news. When their talks on football ended, the conversation moved to stock car racing. Robert still had a deep love for the sport. Him and his oldest son would go to various stock car races from Indy car, NASCAR, to local tracks. That early love never left him. Robert was very proud of his children and told everyone about them. He was also very proud of every grandchild. He was blessed to have 3 children; 6 grandchildren; and one great grandchild. In the last year of his life he even got to see a second generation family member graduate from college. In later years, he took on an another title as care giver for his wife. A job he didn’t say much about but loved doing whatever he could for his wife. Again, he looked out for others instead of himself. Robert enjoyed going to church at the Sylvan Abbey United Methodist Church. He enjoyed going to his church on Monday Night for game night. He also enjoyed celebrating the various holiday’s at the church.