Betty Catherine Howell Sowell, 80, of Tifton passed away Saturday, August 26, 2017, at her residence. Her funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, August 31, 2017, in the Memorial Chapel of Tifton's First Baptist Church with Dr. Wayne Roe and the Rev. Mark Myers officiating. Mrs. Sowell will be laid to rest at Oak Ridge Cemetery. The family will receive friends Wednesday, August 30, 2017, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals. Mrs. Sowell will be placed in the church one hour prior to the service.
Myles Sowell, Jacob Sowell, Lee Sowell, Chuck Sowell, Robbie Howell, Chris Howell, Hayes Walz, Gary Sowell and Gage TenHagen will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Raley Co-Ed Sunday School Class and the Joyful Sound Senior Adult Choir of Tifton’s First Baptist Church.
Born April 13, 1937 in Pierce County (Blackshear), Mrs. Sowell was the daughter of the late O. W. Howell and Willie Altman Howell. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Franklin Palmer Sowell. Mrs. Sowell was an active member of First Baptist Church, Tifton and member of the Raley Co-Ed Sunday School Class. She worked in the Business Office at Tift Regional Medical Center and then, after retirement, came back as a Pink Lady. She was employed at Southern Bell Phone Company from 1956-1965. She was on the Counting Committee at Tifton’s First Baptist Church, where she also served on the kitchen crew (dessert table) and a Family Life Center desk volunteer. She was a school bus driver at Calvary Baptist Day School and Temple, where she also served as day school office receptionist and then, transferred to church office and worked under church administrator. She was an avid bowler in her younger years and played on a women’s league in Savannah and, after moving to Tifton, joined the league here, as well.
Mrs. Sowell is survived by two sons and daughters-in-law, Craig and Keetra Sowell of Tifton and Russell and Hope Sowell of Cordele; two brothers and sisters-in-law, Buddy and Myra Howell of Garfield, Larry and Andrea Howell of Savannah; one sister and brother-in-law, Brenda and Carl Walz of Brooklet; and five grandchildren, Catherine Sowell, Myles Sowell, Sara Sowell, Jacob Sowell and Anna Bay Sowell. Other family members surviving are Gage TenHagen, Christopher Mitchell, Teressa Sowell, Shelley Walz and Peter, Courtney and Andy Dorsett, Hayes and Chene Walz, Jennifer and Eric Werlinger, Ronnie and Erin Neely, Randy and Anne Neely, Rhonda Barefoot, Robbie Howell, Chris and Gina Howell, Katherine and Brad Lamb, Lee and Robin Sowell, Diane and John Silas, Gary and Beth Sowell, Chuck and Frankie Sowell, Kerry and Beth Conaway, and sister-in-law Charlotte Sowell.
The family would also like to thank Southern Home Medical, Southern Care Hospice and Cypress Pond at Home for their loving care and assistance.
Flowers will be accepted or memorial gifts may be made to the Alzheimer's Association, SW GA Regional Office, 225 East Second Street, Tifton, GA 31794; or the First Baptist Church Building Fund, 404 Love Avenue, Tifton, GA 31794.