Jean J. Howell

Published 10:09 pm Monday, May 16, 2016

Jean Jensen Howell, 93, died May 13, 2016 at home. She was born May 4, 1923, in Kenosha, Wis., and was a daughter of the late Thorvald and Alma (Monson) Jensen. She was preceded in death by her husband of 66 years, John A. “Jack” Howell Jr., and by her sister, Frances Jensen McKeown.

Howell

During World War II, she worked at Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois and later at O.S.S. in Washington, D.C. In the early days of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), she worked at the Portsmouth studio and later at the Virginia Beach facility.

She was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Suffolk.

She is survived by a son, John A. “Jack” Howell III and wife, Eugenia, of New River, Ariz.; two daughters, Anne Howell Wood and husband, Walter, of Carlisle, Pa., and Hilary H. Gersbach and husband, Marcus, of Suffolk; five granddaughters: Marie Cross Evans and husband, Terry, of Suffolk, Meredith Gersbach, of Denver, Colo., and Lauren Gersbach, of New Orleans, La., Stephanie W. Rowland and husband, Bryan, of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Kathleen W. Bermudez and husband, Edgar, of Coconut Creek, Fla.; two grandsons, Mark J. Howell and wife, Amy, of Glendale, Ariz., and Kirk S. Howell and wife, Kristin, of Scottsdale, Ariz.; six great-grandsons: Andrew, Michael and John Evans, of Suffolk, and Jacob Wood, of Chattanooga, Tenn., Mason Howell, of Glendale, Ariz., and Jack Bermudez, of Coconut Creek, Fla.; four great-granddaughters: Rachel and Sophie Howell, of Glendale, Ariz., and Lily Howell, of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Julie Bermudez, of Coconut Creek, Fla.; and several nieces.

A graveside funeral service will be conducted Saturday, May 21, 2016, at 11 a.m. at Holly Lawn Cemetery, Suffolk, by the Rev. Keith Emerson. The family will receive friends in the R.W. Baker & Co. Funeral Home and Crematory on Friday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and other times at the home of her daughter, Hilary Gersbach. In lieu of flowers, memorial donation may be sent to CBN, The Christian Broadcasting Network, 977 Centerville Turnpike, Virginia Beach, VA 23465-9989.  The family would like to thank Delores and Jennifer Jernigan for their loving care. Condolences may be registered at www.rwbakerfh.com.