Elizabeth Fisher Howes
Beth Howes, 90, of Harney Road, Emmitsburg, died at
The Gettysburg Hospital on June 22, 2000.
She was born in Yankeetown, Pickaway County, Ohio, on
July 31, 1909. Her parents were Zebulon Fisher and Laura
Brown Fisher. She was predeceased by her sisters, Mary
Alice, Ruth Mae, and Annabel, and her brother Paul. Her
brothers Zebulon and Dale still live in Ohio.
After high school in Mt. Sterling, Ohio, Mrs. Howes,
who was an outstanding young student and pianist, went
to Cincinnati Missionary Training School, where she
spent two years preparing for teaching.
She worked for a number of years in the Great Smoky
Mountains in various Methodist settlement schools,
enjoying the hills and the hill people. It was there
that she met and married another young Methodist
teacher, Kentuckian John Baxter Howes. She furthered her
education at Union College and Morehead State.
The couple moved to Fall River, Massachusetts, and
served a church there while Dr. Howes attended Boston
Seminary. On returning to the mountains, they continued
to minister to tiny communities in Tennessee and
Kentucky, savoring the beauty and the culture of the
region.
time, Mrs. Howes gave birth to her only child,
Patricia, now Pat Howes Bell of Emmitsburg, and the
family moved away from the hills to other churches in
Tennessee and Pennsylvania, and finally to Maryland,
where Dr. Howes became a seminary professor at Wesley
Seminary in Westminster and later in Washington, D.C.
She and Dr. Howes retired to Emmitsburg in 1979.
A private graveside service was held on June 26 at
the Presbyterian Cemetery in Emmitsburg with the Rev.
Cynthia Quillen, Mrs. Howes’ niece, officiating.
Memorial contributions may be made to the John Baxter
Howes Scholarship Fund, Wesley Theological Seminary,
4500 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20015.
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