Ms. Bessie (as she was known) passed away on November 8, 2022, at Baptist Memorial Hospital, Golden Triangle.

She was born May 13, 1927, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Thomas and Myrtle Smalley.  Bessie was married to James "Shorty" Howard for fifty years, prior to his death.

Bessie loved her God, her family, her friends, coffee, and Southern Gospel Music.  She was a faithful homemaker and gave birth to five daughters.  After her youngest started school, Bessie began working at Beneke Corporation as a machine operator and worked there for decades as a devoted employee, where she gained many friends.  Her passion for her Lord and her family was united in her faithful attendance as a charter member of Canaan Baptist Church in Columbus, MS.  She and her husband were both involved in the ministry and fellowship of the church.  He served as a Deacon and she as a Sunday School Teacher.  They loved hosting dinners in their home for fellow church members, and for their growing family.  Mrs. Howard began making homemade bread and loved giving it away as gifts to those she loved.  She earned the affectionate title of "the bread lady." After the years working at Beneke, Bessie devoted her time to volunteer activities, particularly after her husband's death.  She played in the Senior Citizens Band, participated in RSVP activities (such as quilting), and delighted in helping children with their reading skills as a volunteer at Joe Cook Elementary school.  Her greatest fame, however, was as a Prayer Warrior – and someone who "loved everybody."

Mrs. Howard was preceded in death by her parents, Myrtle and Thomas Smalley; husband, James C. "Shorty" Howard; daughter, Brenda Edmonds; step-daughter, Emma Nanna; Grand-daughters, Laura Avery Hester and Chelsea York; Siblings: Effie Hunter, Helen Aldridge, Bertha Beaty, Doris Foreman, Morris Smalley, and Edward Smalley.

She is survived by daughters Frances (Stan) Weathers, Faye (Danny) Avery, Barbara Davis, and Jimmie Nell Davis, all of Columbus, MS.  She had Eleven (11) grandchildren, Thirty-one (31) Great Grandchildren, and Sixteen (16) Great, Great Grandchildren.

Pallbearers will be her grandsons: Marc Weathers, Paul Avery, Scot Box, Chad Strickland, Chandler Strickland, and Luke Killebrew.

Her Fifteen (15) Great Grandsons will serve as Honorary Pallbearers, along with Current and Former employees of Trinity Place Retirement and Personal Care Centers and Baptist Hospice employees Amy Richardson, RN, and Jeanene Heatherly, CNA.

Funeral Services will be held at Canaan Baptist Church on Lehmberg Road at 1:00 PM
Thursday, November 10, 2022.  Visitation will be two hours preceding the service, with burial to follow at Mt, Vernon Baptist Church Cemetery.

In lieu of Flowers, the family requests Memorials be made to Methodist Senior Services Sunday Fund for Trinity Place or St. Jude's Children's Hospital.