September 7, 2024
MARIETTA – Please meet Hazel Howard, who was born in Rayle, Georgia, was saved at Inman Park Baptist Church in Atlanta when she was 11 years old (Dr. Sam Lowe was pastor), later joined the First Baptist Church in Avondale Estates where she was a member for 56 years, and recently moved to a senior living facility in Cobb County to be nearer her nephew, Dr. Walter McBride and his wife, Beverly. She has now united with First Baptist Church in Marietta. She is a delightful lady who is as effervescent as they come and on the first day of May celebrated her 102nd birthday.
On that same day Miss Hazel was born the Boston Braves and the Brooklyn Robins (later the Dodgers) played the longest baseball game in history. The game went for 26 innings and was called on account of darkness with the teams tied in a 1-1 score. And believe it or not, Leon Cadore, the Brooklyn pitcher and Joe Oeschger, the Boston pitcher, both pitched the entire 26 innings. Perhaps the length of the ball game was a precursor to Hazel Howard’s long and significant life.
If you were to meet Mrs. Howard today, you would find a charming centenarian who is a delightful and very entertaining lady. Although she uses a walker to enhance her mobility, she is spry, quick-witted, and has a captivating personality.
She is adjusting amiably to her new environs, but explained, “I miss my home and the joy of working with my flowers, but I love the people where I am currently living.”
With a twinkle in her eyes, she hinted that it took some time to adjust to the chef’s cooking in her new home. She said, “The servings at each meal are plentiful and I can always find something to eat, but it is not like the Southern cooking to which I am accustomed.
“One day I asked the cook, ‘When are we going to have some cornbread with our meals?’ He told me that he would be making cornbread for dinner that very night. Well, we had cornbread, but no vegetables.
“Who makes cornbread without vegetables”? Mrs. Howard exclaimed, “Furthermore, the cornbread was white. When I complained, he asked me if I could do any better; and I challenged him to a cornbread baking contest; and told him the winner would be determined by how many of the senior adult residents ate his cornbread and how many ate mine. However, before I had the opportunity to show my superior cornbread baking ability he resigned and took a job somewhere else.” It was a good-natured exchange between the chef and the new resident, but Mrs. Howard is never afraid give counsel when it is needed.
After hearing only Mrs. Howard’s side of the story one could reasonably surmise that experience and confidence would have won out and she would be crowned the winner with or without a cornbread baking contest.
Miss Hazel is so affable and approachable that she never fails to meet new residents at the senior living facility she calls home, and she answers every phone call she gets – even the spam calls. Recently she got a call from a Medicare specialist, who proceeded to ask her a series of questions: “Are you on social security? Do you have all the benefits that Medicare can provide? Are your dental expenses included in your coverage? Are your hearing needs being properly included in your Medicare plan? Are you sure you are getting all the benefits you deserve?”
She answered in the affirmative to each question. Then she was asked, “Mrs. Howard, how old are you?
She replied, “I am 102 years old.” Upon hearing her response, the caller abruptly ended the call and hung up. (Please don’t use that comment to Medicare callers unless you are actually 102).
Mrs. Howard outlived two husbands, but had no children, but she had four brothers and two sisters. Both of her sisters were in college when she was born. Her father died when she was four years old; and Her mother became the primary breadwinner for the household. She took in boarders and opened a small restaurant to provide for the family.
“My mother, Ethel Holmes, was the biggest influence in my life,” declared Miss Hazel. “She would not allow any fussing in the house and created an atmosphere of joy. She was a wonderful Christian and always focused on the things that were good and true and positive. I think more than anything else, that is the secret of my long life. Does not the Bible say, ‘The joy of the Lord is our strength?’
“When my father died, mother was strong and handled his death with God’s sustaining grace. I didn’t fully understand much about my father’s death, but my oldest sister told me all about heaven and how happy our father would be there with Jesus. She made it sound so wonderful that I wanted to go to heaven also.”
When Hazel Howard completed her high school education, she was employed by the nation’s health protection agency, the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and worked there for 36 years before retiring.
However, music also became a big part of Mrs. Howard’s life. She recalled, “When I was just a girl, I started taking piano lessons. My mother paid $.25 cents for each lesson; and I began to love music.” When she moved out of her home in Avondale Estates to a beautiful, but much smaller residence in Cobb County she concluded that she would not have enough room for her piano.”
After several months her twin nieces, Becky Ramsey and Alice Walker, both of whom are organists in their churches, decided that she did have room for a piano, and they surprised her one day by arranging for one to be delivered to her new residence. They were there to see the smile on her face when she realized that she was the recipient of such a wonderful gift. She said, “I could not believe that I had received a piano from my nieces. In fact, I got up at 3:00 o’clock the next morning just to see it and make sure I was not dreaming.”
Mrs. Howard played the piano in her church for years and still enjoys playing for the residents in her community of senior adults. She goes to the main lobby of the facility to bless and entertain those who gather around her. She said, “The first time I attempted to play the piano in the lobby it was out of tune. I alerted them to the problem, and they got a piano tuner there within a few days. Sometimes when I start playing the lobby is empty, but then people begin to gather. I can hardly believe the positive response I get when I am at the keyboard.”
Our remarkable centenarian commented that the greatest years of her life were after her marriage to her first husband, William Loudermilk. They were married for more than three decades before he died of cancer. Her second marriage to William “Harland” Howard lasted only 3 ½ years before he died of cancer.
Hazel Howard is a woman of faith and a sincere follower of Christ. She loves songs like “Jesus Loves Me”, “The Old Rugged Cross” and “Blessed Assurance.” And one of her favorite books in the Bible is Psalms. She is a faithful church member and gets up every morning before 7 AM to watch Turning Point on her television to see and hear David Jeremiah preach the Gospel. And she remembers with great joy the privilege of singing in the mass choir under the direction of Cliff Barrows at the 1973 Billy Graham Crusade at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium.
It has been said, “The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.” Hazel Howard found the secret!
