Nora Elizabeth Howard
Nora Elizabeth Howard was born on April 21, 1930 in Corsicana, Tx., to Jesse Leander Hanson and Violet Meredith Fitzgerald Hanson.
After her father died when she was eight years old, Nora and her siblings moved to the IOOF Widows’ and Orphans’ Home in Corsicana, Tx., where she lived until she graduated high school at age 17. Though the effects of the Great Depression were heavy on The Home, as it was affectionately called, and those who lived there, Nora saw hope, joy, and humor in her years at The Home. She later recounted to her children and grandchildren tales of small pleasures like taking dance lessons, writing and performing plays, learning to sew and cook, singing in the choir, receiving special treats of oranges and nuts in her Christmas stocking, and constantly trying to get away with forbidden fun!
When she graduated from high school, one of the top in her class, she worked at the Wall Street Journal in Ft. Worth, Tx., and then at an airplane factory where she met Roger on a blind date and they were married on Dec. 22, 1950.
Throughout her life, Nora flourished in her role as wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister and friend. All who knew her admired her fierce combination of beauty, compassion, humility, intelligence, and humor. She loved flowers, walks outside, old hymns, cowboy songs, and the family cooking together then gathered around the dining table for a good meal. Nora saw the good in every person, the humor in every situations and the hope in every set-back. To her, life was a grand adventure, ready to be lived to the fullest in every moment and she brought whoever was with her along for the ride. Her early years in The Home could have set her on a course of bitterness and despair; instead, she allowed God to use that time to propel her to fullness and joy.
Nora’s love for life was contagious, and those who knew and loved her best have been indelibly shaped by her wit and joy. In our smiles, in our laughter with our children, in our determination in difficulties, in our creativity with little or much, and in our love for one another, we live out what overflowed from her life into ours during those precious years and moments we shared.
While Nora is now in heaven with Roger, and with family and friends who have gone before, she is survived by her brother, Charles Burns of Naples, Tx.; her four children: Karen Howard of East Ridge; Marianne (Paul) Peterson of Colorado Springs, Co.; Chuck Howard of LaFayette, Ga.; and Betsy (Glenn) Cooper of Cumming, Ga. She is also survived by five grandchildren: Lindsay (Frank) Acocella, Jack (Amy) Peterson, Hannah (Luke) Reimer, Candice (Jeremy) Paul, and Will (Beth Ann) Cooper; and twelve great-grandchildren: Anthony, Gianna, Eva, and Rocco Acocella; Rosie and Owen Peterson; John and Shep Reimer; Collier and Camp Cooper, Weston and Lila Posey.
Graveside service for family and friends will be at the Chattanooga National Cemetery on Monday, Oct. 7, at 12:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to Sleep In Heavenly Peace (SHPBeds.org, the Chattanooga or Lafayette chapter).