Elizabeth Fisher Howes

Beth Howes, 90, of Harney Road, Emmitsburg, died at The Gettysburg Hospital on June 22, 2000.

She was born in Yankeetown, Pickaway County, Ohio, on July 31, 1909. Her parents were Zebulon Fisher and Laura Brown Fisher. She was predeceased by her sisters, Mary Alice, Ruth Mae, and Annabel, and her brother Paul. Her brothers Zebulon and Dale still live in Ohio.

After high school in Mt. Sterling, Ohio, Mrs. Howes, who was an outstanding young student and pianist, went to Cincinnati Missionary Training School, where she spent two years preparing for teaching.

She worked for a number of years in the Great Smoky Mountains in various Methodist settlement schools, enjoying the hills and the hill people. It was there that she met and married another young Methodist teacher, Kentuckian John Baxter Howes. She furthered her education at Union College and Morehead State.

The couple moved to Fall River, Massachusetts, and served a church there while Dr. Howes attended Boston Seminary. On returning to the mountains, they continued to minister to tiny communities in Tennessee and Kentucky, savoring the beauty and the culture of the region.

time, Mrs. Howes gave birth to her only child, Patricia, now Pat Howes Bell of Emmitsburg, and the family moved away from the hills to other churches in Tennessee and Pennsylvania, and finally to Maryland, where Dr. Howes became a seminary professor at Wesley Seminary in Westminster and later in Washington, D.C. She and Dr. Howes retired to Emmitsburg in 1979.

A private graveside service was held on June 26 at the Presbyterian Cemetery in Emmitsburg with the Rev. Cynthia Quillen, Mrs. Howes’ niece, officiating. Memorial contributions may be made to the John Baxter Howes Scholarship Fund, Wesley Theological Seminary, 4500 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20015.