Ann L. Howard Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Ann Lee Howard, a veteran of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), golfer, bowler, exceptional bridge player, world traveler, loving mom, and bright light to her friends and family passed from this world on Sunday, May 2, 2021. She was right where she wanted to be: in her home, with the roses and jasmine from her garden nearby, the birds singing, and family at her side. She was two months shy of her 90th birthday. Ann was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. She joined the WAC cryptography unit when she was just 18 because, as she put it, she wanted a bit of adventure. The National Cryptography Museum recorded a life history of her work on the SIGABA cipher machine (which was never broken), and she recounted a night she was working when all the lights and bells that signaled priority messages went off at once. She was decoding the messages that we had just crossed the 57th parallel, and the Korean conflict had begun. She was stationed in Heidelberg, Germany, where she met her husband, Thomas Howard. Their respective barracks were close enough for him to wave goodbye to her at night when she went to bed. It didn’t take too long for Tom to realize he’d met his life long best girl, and they married in 1951. Tom stayed in the military, and Ann had her first two sons, Larry and David, while they were in Germany. She was in Georgia when she had Kenny, in France when she had Dan, and in Indianapolis when she had her daughter, Sally. To say they moved a lot was an understatement. Everywhere they landed, Ann quickly befriended her neighbors, especially the bridge players and bowlers, and helped her kids get settled yet again into a new school and new routines. Tom and Ann loved the outdoors and enjoyed taking their kids camping. Ann always had some kind of a garden going, and hung wallpaper like a pro in every house they lived in. She also sewed the most amazing dance costumes for Sally: ballet tutus with miles of netting, flapper dresses with yards of fringe and sequins, and satin bull-fighting capes to name a few. She was fiercely competitive, but quiet about it, so her children only understood later in life why they were also competitive. Ann and Tom moved to Garden City, SC in 1988 after Tom retired. She loved Garden City, and met some of her best friends there. She loved to throw a good party, and put on annual Octoberfests, and other fun events for her community. She organized golf outings for the “Nine and Dine” ladies golf group, was the Secretary for the bowling league, volunteered at Brookgreen Gardens, and hosted plenty of brunches for her friends and neighbors. She travelled extensively with her girlfriends, going to Spain, Ireland, Germany, Greece, the Scandinavian countries and Russia where she got to see the Swan Lake ballet performed. And don’t forget the cruises… so many cruises. As she liked to say, come February she always got the Caribbean itch, and she surely scratched it many times over. Ann is survived by her five children, Larry, David, Kenny, Dan and his wife Krista, and Sally. Her grandchildren, Aaron and his wife Brie, Roger, Matthew, Nate, Caitlin and her husband Adam, Brendan, Darren, Michelle, and Derrick and his wife Jessica, and Nicole. A Memorial Service is being held on Saturday, May 8, 2021 at 11:00 a.m., at Goldfinch Funeral Home Beach Chapel, 11528 Highway 17 Bypass, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576. Ann was able to make her transition in her home thanks to hospice support provided by Lower Cape Fear LifeCare. The family asks that those wishing to honor Ann, donate to Lifecare on her behalf at lifecare.org/donate.

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Ann L. Howard

July 3, 1931 - May 2, 2021