The Howe Area Chamber of Commerce released the nominees for this year’s Hall of Honor Class. Voting begins today and will conclude on March 30 and the public can vote by clicking here. This is the fourth class to be inducted for the honor established by the Howe Area Chamber of Commerce. The chamber sends voting out for two categories of deceased and living. The top two in each category that receives the most votes will be enshrined on May 4, 2018, at a 6:30 pm ceremony. The May event serves as the kickoff to the Founders Day Festival which takes place the following day starting at 2 pm. The Hall of Honor ceremony is also the night in which the chamber announces other local awards including the Norman J. Wallace Citizen of the Year, Business of the Year, and Volunteer Organization of the Year.
Last year’s inductees included Jean Norman, Donal Gilstrap, J.J. Chisum, and Bob Walker. The 2016 class included Norman Dickey, Steve Simmons, and Jimmy Bearden.
Howe’s initial Hall of Honor Class included Jabez Haning, W.P. Thompson, A.M. Ferguson, Mame Roberts, Charles Thompson, Arthur Boyle, Tony Brinkley, L.B. Kirby, Norma Wallace, Ray Bledsoe, Carrie Waller, and Elmer Schenk.
In the deceased category, this year is Price Hanning, Overton Jay, Marshall Robertson, Tommy Skipworth, Artie Stockton, and Bob Williams. The living category consists of Norman Bennett, Harold Taylor, Linda Wall, and Donna Wormsbaker.
DECEASED CATEGORY (TWO WILL BE INDUCTED)
Price Hanning, Sept. 26, 1926 – Nov. 26, 2002. He established a car repair shop in Howe after returning from World War II. Afterward, it became the oldest continuous business in Howe as Hanning Garage and Wrecker Service. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Howe, The Howe Masonic Lodge #430 for 36 years and the Scottish Rite in Dallas. He was a doctor of automotive technology. Hanning kept vehicles running for people he knew could not afford new and improved cars. Sometimes, he did it without charge. He worked through bad weather in all seasons, and deep into many nights to help whoever he could. With a wry sense of humor and a grin, he contributed to the lives of other wrecker drivers, police and Department of Public Safety Troopers. Hanning was honored as a co-Citizen of the Year in 1985.
Overton Jay, Nov. 17, 1916 – Aug. 11, 2001. He was a hometown boy and a third generation native Texan. Jay was a member and elder of the First Christian Church of Howe. He was a graduate of Howe High School and attended Austin College on a track scholarship. As a US Army tank crewman in World War II, he worked for the Corps of Engineers on the preliminary survey for Lake Texoma. He later worked in transportation at Perrin Air Force Base as a Civilian Traffic Management Officer for 21 years before retiring to his Howe farm. Throughout his working career, he was also a servant to his hometown of Howe by serving as a long-tenured city council member.
Marshall Robertson, Nov. 27, 1919 – Sept. 16, 1993. He was a pillar of the Howe business community for many years. Owning and operating Marshall Robertson’s Texaco filling station on Highway 5 and later to Highway 75, Robertson became entrenched in the public eye and was always an ever-ready neighbor and servant to the community. He operated Robertson Texaco until his retirement in 1980. In the early 1960s, Robertson joined other key local businessmen and lobbied Austin for a bank to be independently operated in Howe. Howe State Bank opened in 1964 thanks in part to the efforts of Robertson, who served as a director until health reasons forced him to resign. The children of Howe loved him and knew they could always count on him for a piece of bubble gum. He was a longtime member of the First Baptist Church of Howe and was honored as a co-Citizen of the Year in 1985.
Tommy Skipworth, Feb. 14, 1945 – Nov. 4, 2005. Originally from Sherman, Skipworth made a name for himself as a superb multi-sport athlete at Sherman High School and later Austin College where he was eventually inducted into the Austin College Hall of Honor in 2014. Upon graduation from Austin College in 1967, he began a career in the education field at Howe I.S.D. that ended in a legacy. He served as a teacher, varsity basketball and baseball coach, counselor, and principal, all while furthering his own education with a master’s from East Texas State University.
Artie Callaway Stockton, Sept. 16, 1889 – Feb 8, 1979. Artie Callaway was the first valedictorian of Howe High School in the first graduating class of 1908. Becoming the Mrs. George Stockton, she and her husband owned and operated Stockton’s Drug Store beginning in 1910 until 1961. Perhaps Howe’s first true businesswoman, Stockton would travel by train during World War II to purchase 1,000 yards of cotton print and sell it to the ladies of Howe for $0.49 per yard. After high school, without a college requirement, Stockton took a county exam and gained her certificate to teach. She was a life-long member of the First United Methodist Church and was an advocate for Mame Roberts’ Prettiest Little Town in Texas project as Stockton arguably maintained the prettiest yard in the prettiest town. In a 1972 interview with the Howe Enterprise, she said, “I just love life. There’s just not anything I don’t like to do.”
Bob Williams, May 12, 1933 – March 14, 2000. Bob Carl Williams was born in 1933 and grew up in Sherman, Texas and was a 1952 Sherman High graduate. His contributions to Howe are well documented during his 23 years as Senior Vice President of First Bank Howe. Williams was a charter member of the Howe Band Boosters, as well as serving as president of the Athletic Booster Club, and president of the Howe Lions Club. He was also involved with the Upper-Elm Red Water Conservation Committee and served on the Loy Lake Livestock Board of Directors. Williams used loaning money for FFA projects to teach students a lifelong lesson. He would take extra time to explain the details of a loan with each FFA student. Most of all he wanted them to learn responsibility, that if they kept their end of the agreement he would be there the next time they needed money. Williams was often taken for granted as he quietly did whatever needed to be done for Howe, especially for the youth in the community. He worked in many places not seeking recognition for his deeds but doing all for the community he loved. He was the recipient of the 1999 Norma J. Wallace Citizen of the Year.
LIVING CATEGORY (TWO WILL BE INDUCTED)
Norman Bennett was born in 1932 and raised in Gainesville, Texas. Shortly after graduating from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, he moved to Sherman where he taught math at Sherman High and coached the tennis team in the late 1950s and 1960s. He then taught at Howe High where he taught in three different decades at Howe High School. Bennett was known for his contagious smile, his knack for math, his ability to connect with and “mesmerize” his students. He would write math problems on the board with his eyes on the class the entire time. While involved in his teaching career, Bennet also starred in plays and musicals at the Sherman Community Players Theater. Working at KXII TV, he hosted an afternoon movie show, “Dialing for Dollars”, had roles in commercials, and was the weekend weatherman. After his children were grown, Norman Bennett decided to earn extra money by auditioning for commercials in Dallas. In 1983, he starred in two movies – “Terms of Endearment”, starring Shirley MacLaine and Jack Nicholson, and “Tender Mercies”, starring Robert Duval – both movies winning Academy Awards. In “Terms of Endearment”, he played the role of banker Edward Johnson, one of Shirley MacLaine’s suitors. In the movie “Hope Floats”, he starred opposite Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick, Jr.
Harold Taylor is a hometown boy, graduating from Howe High School in 1956 from his class of 13. After attending North Texas State University, he began a 37- year career with the United States Postal Service including the last 13 as the postmaster in Howe from 1984-1997. Taylor is the only person to ever be selected as the Norma J. Wallace Citizen of the Year twice (1987, and 1997). Taylor was an active Howe Chamber of Commerce member and served as the treasurer of the Howe Lions Club for many years where he helped less fortunate children obtain eyeglasses. Taylor also served as Scout Master and Assistant Scout Master for many years for Howe’s Troop 45. Taylor was also a supporter of Howe ISD by becoming a charter member of the band boosters and also a supporter of the athletic booster club. He and his wife have been faithful members of the First United Methodist Church of Howe for 59 years.
Linda Wall could easily be argued as the most important figure in the history of the Howe Chamber of Commerce. Her supreme volunteering spanned five decades in various organizations. Coming to Howe during the 1970s during the Texas Instruments boom, as so many others did, Wall immediately became involved with the First United Methodist Church of Howe and her first volunteer activity was as a Cub Scout Den Leader. Being active in PTA and helping to push forward a plan to start a band program in Howe ISD, she joined other Howe community leaders such as Jean Norman to help form the Friends of the Library. Her volunteer work with the Howe Chamber earned her not only respect but also the 1997 Norma J. Wallace Citizen of the Year honor. Her latest volunteer achievement was the upkeep and organization of Howe’s free clothing distribution center known as Peggy’s Porch.
Donna Wormsbaker is a hometown girl, born Donna Moses to previous Howe servants, the 1968 Howe High School graduate returned to teach in her hometown in 1976 as Howe’s second ever kindergarten teacher. She’s a lifelong member of the First United Methodist Church in Howe where her family has served for over half a century. After a 38-year teaching career in Howe and 43 overall, Wormsbaker set off on a volunteer rampage dedicating her time to her city. The former teacher became involved with the Howe Area Chamber of Commerce, Peggy’s Porch, and the Save the Church organization. But her true skills are seen as her work as executive director and president of the Keep Howe Beautiful organization. KHB annually holds a Trash-off as well as plants flowers throughout the city. Just as Hall of Honor member Mame Roberts did in the 1940s, Wormsbaker’s dedication has helped lead Howe to be a cleaner and more attractive place.
