Mary Lou Howie

FALLS VILLAGE — Mary Lou Howie passed away on April 9, 2011. She was 75 years old.She was born in Ann Arbor, Mich., on March 1, 1936, the only daughter of Sarah Catherine (Cake) and Raymond Frederick Hutzel. She attended Pioneer High School, Albion College and graduated from the School of Education at the University of Michigan. As a young woman, she tutored elementary school age patients at the University of Michigan Medical Center. There she proved herself to be an extraordinary nurturer, especially to young children — a gift she used throughout the rest of her life as a mother, godmother, grandmother, Sunday school teacher and even more recently, as a library volunteer at the Lee H. Kellogg School in Falls Village.In 1956, she married Charles R. Howie and together they raised three children, living primarily in Grand Rapids, Mich. During those years, she gave generously of her time to organizations such as the Parent Teacher Association and Goodwill Industries. Later, she worked professionally as an office manager for a private medical practice and Luther Village Retirement Home.Following retirement in 2001, she moved from Grand Rapids to Falls Village to be an active and engaged grandmother.Her first priority was always her family. However, she also pursued a variety of interests over the years including organic gardening in the 1970s when nobody knew what it was, collecting and restoring early American antiques, and a number of handcrafts such as sewing and crocheting. She loved spending time at her family cottage on Lake Michigan near Frankfort, Mich. Mary Lou is survived by her children, Timothy Hutzel Howie of Denver, Colo., Randall Scott Howie of Steamboat Springs, Colo., and Elizabeth Jane Howie of Falls Village; and her granddaughter, Calpurnia Ann Carter of Falls Village, who was responsible for renaming her “Min,” a nickname by which she became well-known.A funeral service will be held at Trinity Episcopal Church in Lime Rock on Friday, April 15, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent to Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association or the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.The Kenny Funeral Home in Sharon has charge of arrangements.