Howell Chandler McCullah was born on January 12, 1944, in Muskogee, Oklahoma, to Margaret Nan Jones, and Howell Chandler McCullah. He was Christened on April 11, 1954, in the Trinity Methodist Church in Amarillo, Texas.
Howell was quite active at Amarillo High School – Allied youth, Golden Sandie football & baseball, Bel Canto Chorale, and the wresting team. Howell would often race his car against other drivers, for pink slips. Though he never really took them, it was enough knowing that he could beat them.
After graduation Howell attended Amarillo College in accounting.
Howell joined the US Army National Guard of Texas where his unit was activated during the Vietnam War. Though he never was sent to war, he stayed in the service until April 1970, where he received an honorable discharge.
Howell married Betty Gail Crawford, the love of his life, on June 4, 1965. They met in Dallas living in the same apartment building. She and her roommate did not have a stereo in their apartment, so Howell ran a speaker to their apartment where they were stuck listening to whatever music Howell and his roommate opted for that day. One of Howell’s favorite songs was “Hit the Road Jack”. To hear him tell this story on their anniversary gave you hope to have a love like theirs.
On December 13, 1965, came the birth of their only child, Traci Lynne. He told Betty that she could not give birth on this day as he had military inspection that day. As it turns out, Traci decided who was going to be in charge, and was born just after midnight allowing her father to make it back for inspection.
He worked for Paul DeCleva, working in the oil & gas industry. There came a time when Paul was going to have to lay him off, but because of his family he made sure to keep Howell on until he found a new job. This began his life in the moving & storage industry when he was hired by Bekins Moving & Storage as a salesman, where he first worked on the trucks so that he would know how to be a great salesman.
Bekins transferred the family to El Paso in 1972, then the family was transferred to Houston in 1975 where they have lived until 1998 when Howell & Betty decided to move out of the city. Howell wanted to be on the golf course and Betty didn’t want to be on the bus line. Weston Lakes was the perfect place for them. Their backyard backs up to the 18th sand trap, and what beautiful sunrises you can see from their patio.
When Howell parted ways with Bekins, he worked for Allied Van Lines, Burnham Van Lines, Bekins Van Lines, EDC Moving Systems, A-Arpin of Houston an agent Paul Arpin Van Lines. While at A-Arpin of Houston he realized that his accounting and the van lines’ accounting didn’t add up so in order to show that the agency was profitable he decided that he and his family would purchase the agency in May 1997. In 2005 they left Paul Arpin Van Lines, changing the name of the company to Westar Moving & Storage becoming an agent, for several van lines, Stevens Worldwide, National Van Lines then coming back to his Bekins roots as an agent for Wheaton Worldwide. Being in the military, he took great pride in the fact that they moved the military servicemen and women around the US and world. In 2022 the company celebrated 25 years in business, where his daughter, Traci, has been at the helm since Howell had surgery in 2020. She has done a great job with the business, especially during 2 years of the pandemic.
As a Lifetime Member of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, Howell has served on the Horspitality committee for several years. He has been active with the Houston Movers Association and Southwest Movers Association.
His hobbies included running, playing golf, fishing, camping, horse racing, traveling, football, baseball, softball, bowling, bar-b-queing, cars and vehicle mechanics. In his love for fishing, you would find his wife, daughter, sister-in-law and whoever wanted to join the fun, on the lake most every weekend. He loved his fishing trips to Lake Fork with Gene Elkins, or to Lake Texhoma with Betty and their friends Abbott & Kathie Jones. On Saturday’s you would find him golfing with his buddies or fishing. When he quit golfing, you’d find him watching it on tv. When he wasn’t watching golf, you’d find him watching football on Saturday and Sunday. With his love for baseball, he finally made Betty a big Houston Astros fan, in 2017, so they watched the games together when they were on TV. When he knew Traci was at a game, they would always look for her in the crowd. Some of the favorite places he and Betty traveled to included Belize, Hawaii, Mexico, Ruidoso, New Mexico, and South Padre Island. He had business trips that took him to nice locations as well. Traveling and camping became one of those things where he & Betty would take their RV to visit friends and family in north Texas and southeastern Oklahoma. Howell played softball at Papa Blakely’s, and what fun he had along with a few mishaps on the field. Howell and Betty enjoyed meeting up with friends, who had a racehorse, going to the horse tracks in Texas and New Mexico.
Howell’s favorite holiday was Christmas, and that was learned when he and Betty moved from Alief to Fulshear at Christmastime. This year the tree was put up a week earlier than normal. We are all so glad that he saw the Christmas tree this year and was able to enjoy it.
Howell is survived in death by his wife, the love of his life, Betty, celebrating 57 years of marriage in June; his daughter Traci; sister-in-law Joan McCullah; sister-in-law Martha Mann; brother-in-law Jay Crawford and wife Debbie; nephews Mike McCullah, Greg McCullah, Alan McCullah, Michael Mann, nieces Kim McCullah, Christine (McCullah) Conti, along with numerous great nieces and nephews; cousins Wayne Ping and wife Anne, Kay Cherry, along with other family, great friends, and the staff at Westar Moving & Storage.
Howell is preceded in death by his parents Howell & Margaret McCullah, brother Tom McCullah, mother and father in-law Nelwyn & Raymond Crawford, and maternal and paternal grandparents.
The family would like to thank the ER staff, Cardiovascular unit staff, and the ICU staff at HCA West Houston for the amazing care they gave Howell up to his final day, his doctors, along with the amazing caregivers Maurice Green and Alfa Testa.
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