Jo Debra Howell was born on November 30th,1962 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, AZ. She was the third child born to Harold and JoAnn Howell. She attended Desert Sands Junior High and Trevor Browne High school where she graduated in 1980.
In October 1983 Jo started volunteering with the City of Phoenix Planning and Research Bureau. She started off with assignments in coding and filing. She was the first volunteer to reach the 500-volunteer mark. In June of 1984 she reached 1000 hours. She then became a full-time employee as a Records clerk in August of 1985, passing away just 1 month shy of working for the city 40 years.
Jo volunteered off and on through the years: working at the Humane Society caring for the animals. This is where she loved and adopted her dogs Lucy, Linus and Stanley. She volunteered at church doing paperwork for the pastors, joined the singles group doing bible studies, going to women’s retreats and enjoying concerts. Since dad was a teacher, the family spent their summers traveling to Kansas to visit other family members. Working on the farm helping grandma with meal preparation for others harvesting wheat. Many fun times with the horses, fishing in the pond or swimming as well.
She will be missed by all that knew her. Jo Debra leaves her brother, Kevin (Rebecca), Karen (Steve) and Sarah (Mark) as well as nieces; Kimberly (Jason), Jennifer (Joe) along with great-nieces Kylee, Makenna and Brynlee and great-nephews Reed, Seth and Cade.
