Mary Coleen Howell

Mary Howell passed away quietly and in no pain on May 21, 2020 at the age of 86 years.

Mary was one of the gentlest and kindest persons to grace the earth. She was always thinking of others and never wavered when someone reached out to her for help. Mary was the daughter of Abigail Phillips and the sister to Fred Atwell, and Jane Atwell. Her sons are: Thomas Craig Howell and Richard Duane Howell. Mary was deeply religious and practiced her faith at Holy Ghost Parish in Albuquerque. She had a special attachment to the Blessed Virgin Mary and blue remained her favorite color throughout her life. Although diminutive in stature, Mary was a brilliant thinker who rose from a secretary position to become an IT Supervisor for the Department of Agriculture. Unfortunately, we never did break her from the habit of worrying about everyone else except herself.

In her later years, the admonition for mom to, “please sit down, I’ll get that for you,” was a constant refrain at all our gatherings. Mom lived for, and unconditionally loved, her sons. They were the center of her universe and she was proud of every one of our accomplishments. Mom was a simple person in terms of her needs and wants. I have to admit that she would be a little disappointed in us because of this beautiful casket covered in roses - extravagant in her mind. But we all thought that it was perfect for her, and after her years of work, she deserved it.  These past few months have been extraordinarily hard on mom.

They certainly posed a whole new set of challenges as we tried to deal with her failing health in the midst of the virus. She had a major episode that landed her in the hospital for 3 weeks in April. It was horrible for all of us to be separated from her, not knowing if we would see her again. It took a few harsh words to get her out of there, basically a jailbreak in a wheelchair. At the time, she was adamant that she be taken home and never wanted to go back under any circumstances. We didn’t know it at the time, but the night before she died was a special time for all of us and one that we wished would never end. We laughed and kidded her - and she was clear and present for the entire time. We all got a last chance to tell her how much we loved her, and she did the same for us.  It was such a delight that we all felt a bit normal for a short while. We were all lucky to have so many good years with my mom. She fought for her dignity and her health to the very end. She never complained and was kind to everyone, doctors, nurses, and the myriad of people that poked and prodded her.

She was our “Mary,” the sister, the aunt, the mother till the very end. We have always kidded mom about a singular phrase which we have heard all our lives, and that we are going to put on her headstone: “ Oh, I’m fine honey!” It was true then and it is true now, our mom is fine now and her labors are over. We all love her, now and forever.