Samuel John Howells

Samuel John Howells, 87, died, Monday, November 27, 2017 at the Beehive Home in Eagar. He was born April 30, 1930 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Sylvia Vivian Tuttle and Benjamin Francis Howells. He had five brothers, Ben, Tom, Pete, Jim and Dave. Sam served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Western States Mission from 1951-1953 and graduated from the LDS Business College in Salt Lake City in 1962. He married Joyce Wiltbank Davis on August 24, 1967 in Manti, Utah and was sealed to her for time and all eternity in the Manti Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To this union, Amy Jo Howells was born. Yvette Marie Davis (Joyce’s daughter from her first marriage) was later adopted by Sam and sealed to him in the temple. The family lived in Utah for 15 years where Sam worked for Grand Central stores in the Salt Lake Valley and for Christianson Furniture, Co. and Nature’s Way Herbal Products in Utah Valley. Thereafter, the family moved to Missouri for 33 years where Sam had a small farm in Republic, Missouri. The family later moved to Niangua, Missouri where they had another small farm and where Sam started the Farmer’s Market in nearby Marshfield, Missouri. While in Missouri, Sam and Joyce worked as temple ordinance workers in the Dallas Texas Temple for one week per month for three years, then in the St. Louis Missouri Temple for one day per week for two years. In the fall of 2016, Sam and Joyce moved to Arizona to live by family in Round Valley where Joyce’s parents, William Ellis Wiltbank, Jr. and Alta Udall Wiltbank were born and raised. Sam is preceded in death by his daughter, Yvette, who died in 2005 and by four of his brothers, Ben (2016), Tom (2002), Pete (2016) and Jim (2016). He is survived by his wife, Joyce, Springerville; daughter, Amy Jo, Niangua, Missouri; brother, Dave, Salt Lake City, Utah; and many nieces, nephews and great nieces and nephews. Sam was a man who loved to garden, to play and watch sports on TV and who loved his church and his family. When he was three years old, he had measles and scarlet fever at the same time which destroyed part of the nerves in his ears. As a result, he lost most of his hearing and struggled to hear for the rest of his life, with some help from hearing aids, which became available to him when he was in high school. We rejoice with you Sam; that you can hear well now on the other side of the veil! A viewing will be held Friday, December 1, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. at Burnham Mortuary, Eagar, followed by a Funeral Service. Interment will follow at 11:00 a.m. at Eagar Cemetery.