Elizabeth Preston Davis Howe

Elizabeth Preston Davis Howe, age 92, passed away peacefully Tuesday, March 2 at her home in Sweetwater, Tennessee. Born January 10, 1918, during a blizzard, on small farm in Culleoka, Tennessee to Fountain Pitts Davis and Ellen Elizabeth Denham Davis, she was two years old when the family moved by train to Winter Haven, Florida, where she graduated from Winter Haven High School in 1936. After graduation she moved with her parents back to Culleoka where she worked at Dixie Manufacturing Company from 1936-1939 making uniform pants for the U.S. Armed Forces. She saved the money she made form the factory job to pay for entrance into King’s Daughters Hospital School of Nursing in Columbia, Tennesssee. Upon graduation from nurse’s school, she completed her nursing certification at Nashville General Hospital in 1942. From there she accepted her first position as a Registered Nurse at Sweetwater Hospital in the fall of 1942. In 1943 she transferred to Oak Ridge where she helped set up the original hospital there. Bill Howe, a young Sweetwater attorney at the time, pursued her from Sweetwater to Oak Ridge and they were married Jan. 16, 1944 at the Methodist Church in Madisonville. Later she also worked in Sweetwater as a private care nurse, was office nurse for Dr. Cameron in his private practice and helped Dr. Telford Lowry set up his first office. The Howe’s were married for over 60 years and made their home together in Sweetwater until his death in July 2005 at the age of 90. Mrs. Howe is survived by a son and daughter, Wm. E. (Bill) Howe, III, Vonore, TN., and Beth Howe-Christensen, Kingston, TN, daughter-in-law, Deborah Smiley Howe, Vonore, son-in-law, Rick Christensen, Kingston, TN; grandchildren Michelle Howe Johns and husband, Bryan Johns of Knoxville, Jay Christensen, UT Knoxville, Jessica Smiley-Hedrick and husband, Danny Hedrick, Madisonville; Forest Smiley and wife, Hillary Smiley , Vonore, and great grandchildren Garrett Johns, Knoxville, Justin and Emily Hedrick Madisonville, and Rhys Smiley, Vonore. Elizabeth was an active member of the Methodist Church in Winter Haven and in Sweetwater and made known her desire that those wishing to honor her might donate to the First United Methodist Church , 501 Church St., Sweetwater, TN 37874 or to her other favorite charity, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, P.O. Box 50, Memphis, TN 38101-9929. The body is at Kyker Funeral Home, Sweetwater where the family will receive friends on Saturday March 6, 2010, from 10:00A.M. until 11:30A.M. with the funeral service to follow at 11:30A.M. in Kyker’s Chapel with Rev. Carl Oaks officiating. Interment to follow in the Haven Hill Memorial Gardens in Madisonville.

Elizabeth Preston Davis Howe

January 10, 1918 - March 2, 2010