Obituary of Mary Howard

Mary Elizabeth Gibson Howard Funeral services for Mary Elizabeth "Lib" Gibson Howard, 94, will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, December 22, at Mount Tabor Lutheran Church in West Columbia. The Rev. Paul Aebischer and the Rev. Ryan Liles will officiate, with burial in Mt. Tabor cemetery. The family will receive friends on Wednesday, December 21, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Thompson Funeral Home, 200 State Street, West Columbia. Memorials may be made to Mount Tabor Lutheran Church, 1000 B Avenue, West Columbia, SC 29169. Mrs. Howard, who was married 68 years to the late Woodrow Wilson Howard, died Sunday, December 18, 2011. Born in Lexington County on July 15, 1917, she was the daughter of the late Hugh Weston Gibson and Annie Arnetta Bundrick Gibson. Her mother died in January 1919, and she was raised in the home of her grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Koon Bundrick, of West Columbia. As a child she was always surrounded by her loving aunts, uncles and cousins. She was predeceased by her parents and her brother Earl. A lifelong member of Mount Tabor Lutheran Church, she directed and taught "Preschool" Sunday School for over sixty years. She was also active in the Scatter Cheer Class and the Ladies Aid Society. In the greater community of West Columbia, she was active in Cub Scouting and several garden clubs. She volunteered in the public schools her children attended, and she was one of the first volunteers of Lexington Medical Center. She showed her love and commitment to family each day of her life, as evidenced in the respect held for her by her surviving children: son Jerrod Franklin Howard and daughter-in-law Mary Talbert Howard of Lexington; son Thomas Hugh - Tommy - Howard of Lexington; daughter Marianne Howard Yoder and son-in-law the Rev. Dr. Larry Yoder of Lincolnton, NC; and Gloria Thompson Howard of Columbia. She is also survived by grandchildren Elizabeth Gelene - GG - Howard (Robert Culpepper) of Atlanta, Dr. Melissa Howard Henshaw (Jim) of Isle of Palms, and Amy Howard London of Lexington; Thomas Wilson - Chip - Howard (Jill) of Lexington, Michael Brian Howard of Columbia, and Shannon Howard Pooser (Bert) of Columbia; the Rev. Nathan Howard Yoder (Rebecca) of Maiden, NC, Joshua Howard Yoder (Jennifer) of Hickory, NC, and David Howard Yoder (Kristin) of Pinehurst, NC. Her great-grandchildren include Catherine Gelene Simmons, Jerod Robert Howard Culpepper and Elizabeth Luz Howard Culpepper of Atlanta; Samuel Wilson Henshaw of Isle of Palms; Michael Bane Howard London of Lexington; Colton Wilson Howard, Laken Kristine Smith and Brennen Jewel Smith of Lexington; Preston Maddox Pooser and Grayson Elle Pooser of Columbia; and Marianne Kolster Yoder and Caroline Kolster Yoder of Pinehurst, NC. Please sign online guest book at www.thompsonsfuneral.com