Mrs. Eunice Rebecca Howard, 86, died Tuesday, December 31, 2024, at her home in Walterboro. She was the widow of Dan Irvine Howard III. Eunice was born August 22, 1938, the second of six children, and grew up on a farm in Cherokee County in the Goucher community, where all of the relatives seemed to reside. During the summers of high school, she worked in the office of her father’s meat packing plant, and during her college years she worked as a bank teller. Eunice graduated from Gaffney High School, and then attended Furman University for two years. It was there that she met the love of her life Dan. During her junior year she transferred to Limestone College for a semester in order to plan their December wedding. After their marriage, they moved to Walterboro where Dan taught school, and after their first child Tommy was born, they moved back to Gaffney so she could finish her degree. After graduating they moved back to Walterboro where Eunice began a teaching career that would span many decades. She eventually became the director of the kindergarten program at the First Baptist Church of Walterboro, where she taught many children who are now married with children of their own. Eunice enjoyed a full life of fun and travel, and she was fortunate that Dan also loved to travel. They both loved the mountains of Idaho and North Carolina. Her favorite trips were to Europe, Germany and the Expo in Canada. They traveled to every state except upper most New England, Hawaii and Alaska. Eunice was known to her siblings and close relatives as “Sister”. When the grandchildren came along Thomas affectionally called her “NuNu”, a name the grands and some close friends used until her death. She loved playing bridge with her Monday and Wednesday groups, going to the Elks Lodge, reading and crossword puzzles. She was an active member of Bethel Methodist Church, and it was a big part of her life. She served as visitor to the shut ins and sick for three years, and she was a member of the Sally Starr Circle. She was preceded in death by her parents, Walter William Brown and Ruth Wilkins Brown, by her older brother Gene Brown, by her grandparents Broadus and Eunice Brown and John and Florence Rebecca Wilkins, and by a daughter-in-law Marsha Steedley Howard. She is survived by her son Tommy Howard (Faye), and by her daughter Beth Howard Jones (Billy) of Walterboro. There are three grandsons: Thomas Howard (Courtney), and Robert Howard of Walterboro, and Reid Jones of Gaffney. She leaves behind her step-granddaughter Kennedy Bowen (Gunner) of Green Pond, her great granddaughters Lennon Howard, Briar Mae Bowen and Addie Jones, and her great grandsons Harrison and Hendrix Howard. Eunice leaves behind two sisters, Margaret Brown Clary, of Cary NC and Claire Brown Poole of Raleigh, NC, two brothers, William Brown (Karen) of Greenville, and Jim Brown (Barbara) of Gaffney, and a sister-in-law Linda Atkins (Murray) of Charlotte N.C. There are many nieces, nephews and cousins. Memorials may be made in her memory to the Music Fund of Bethel Methodist Church, to the Parkinson Foundation, or to the charity of one’s choice.
Funeral services will be held Friday morning, January 3, 2025 at 11:00 at Bethel United Methodist Church in Walterboro, with burial following in the Live Oak Cemetery. The family will receive friends beginning at 10:00 AM in the church sanctuary. Parker-Rhoden Funeral Home, 117 Paul Street in Walterboro is in charge of arrangements.
