Linda & Tim Howard
Earl was so much more than an uncle to me. He was with us at the hospital in 1987 when my father passed away; he was with us beside her bed when my mother, his sister, passed away in 2013. There were so many birthdays, Christmas Eve's, New Year's Eves, family reunions, and "just because" parties, and Earl was always there. When he got divorced in the late '60's, I took him home to live with us for six months. The poor man moved in with Mom, Dad, and their four kids. We had two bedrooms and one bathroom, so Earl would sleep in the unfinished attic bedroom where there was no heat or air conditioning! There were so many of us jammed in that small space that he had to go to the gas station at the corner of Linden and Smithville to use the bathroom! He and I carpooled to NCR together and were among the founding members of the NCR "Swinging Singles" Club (imagine that!) He finally got his own house and started attending Parents Without Partners, where he met his second wife, Ruth Miller. She was such a wonderful lady ... and she came along with three, new cousins: Rhett, Julie and Chrisse. Oh, how we loved them and they blended into our crazy family seamlessly. His kids from his first marriage ... Chris, Debbie and Bonnie were our closest cousins, and we have grown even closer as the years have passed, adding spouses and children and children's children to our mix. Earl was always there; now he's gone. Somehow, the world will just not be the same without knowing he's a phone call or a visit away. God bless the family as we all mourn this great loss.