William O'Dell Howard

William O’Dell Howard, 88, passed away peacefully with his wife, Patricia Bradford Howard, and eldest daughter, Leslie Howard Antley, by his side on June 1, 2015.  The third of three sons, Bill was born January 6, 1927, in Graham, Texas to Horace Lee Howard and Mary Louise (Sanders) Howard. When his mother was stricken and later passed away from tuberculosis in 1930, his aunt, Grace Howard Ault and her husband, Clarence W. Ault, took him into their home and raised him. After attending schools in Graham and graduating from Graham High School in 1944, Bill then entered the U.S. Navy, serving in Great Lakes, Michigan where he was a member of the Navy Choir, Biloxi, Mississippi, and San Diego, California.  After WW2 ended, he attended Baylor University and the University of Houston, majoring in photography.

Leaving University, Bill worked at Photocolor and Shell Oil Company as a professional industrial photographer, retiring from Shell’s Office Services Department in 1983.

Predeceased by his parents, Horace Lee Howard and Mary Louise (Sanders) Howard, his brothers, Lt. Col. Waldon Andrew Howard and Horace Lee Howard, Jr., and his kitties, Bill leaves behind his wife of 59 years, Patricia Bradford Howard, two daughters, Leslie Bethany Howard Antley (Mark William Antley) and Mary Louise Howard Womack (James Andrew Womack), and one granddaughter, Faith Alexandra Womack, as well as a foster son, John W. Barton.

Bill’s cremains will be interred in Oak Grove Cemetery in Graham on Saturday, October 17, 2015, at 2:00 p.m.  Instead of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to The Wounded Warrior Project or other veterans’ charity of your choice.