Helen Howell

Helen "LaVonne" Howell

January 16, 1938 - August 25, 2024

Portsmouth Resident

FC Daehler Mortuary

Helen "LaVonne" Howell, resident of Portsmouth, Ohio, died August 25, 2024. LaVonne was 86 years old. In her lifetime she bought flower seeds (and added them to a collection she inherited then passed on to her children's children-seeds passed down six generations now). She bought high school lettermen jackets (for five children-all graduates of Glenwood High School in New Boston). She bought beauty supplies (for Paramount Beauty College where she was an instructor). She bought a hair net (to match her white coat when she was a cook at Stanton Elementary School-a job she took to earn money to feed her family). She once bought a sequin jumpsuit (during the disco craze). She almost bought a classic Mustang convertible (but decided on a conservative family sedan instead). Over the years she bought her loving husband of forty years many pairs of Herman's boots (for all the hard work he did to give her fields for her flowers). She bought a mountain of books in her lifetime (she was a reader of pulp fiction, sometimes reading a book a day. When she passed she left two unfinished spy novels on her reading stand-by Tom Clancy and John le Carre'). She bought a bar with her husband, Frank's Place, in New Boston (where she had worked for years as a waitress). She bought an iPad when her grandchildren began having children (so she could video call them where she sometimes showed them her flowers). She was born during the American Great Depression. She was a young girl during World War II. She was a teenager then a young wife during the iconic 1950s. She raised five children in the 1960s. She became a single mother in the 1970s. In the 1980s she and her husband Randy bought a little house in a lush woodland valley and transformed it, over the years, into the family haven. She departed surrounded by a crowd of loved ones spanning four generations, some singing and dancing at her bedside-literally. She passed under the light of a gibbous moon with the moon lilies circling her house in full bloom.

She is survived by her loving husband of 40 years, Randy Howell; two brothers: Harold "Bud" (Mary Lou) Bricker and David (Jackie) Bricker, and a sister, Linda Harbor; five children: Janet Holsinger-Kraschinsky, Joe Holsinger, Patty Holsinger, Barb Holsinger, and Philip Holsinger; ten grandchildren: Micah Riffe, Erica Vertar, Nick Riffe, Alyssa Babauta, Tyler Holsinger, Madison Kees, Matthew Kees, Zander Kraschinsky, Zachary Holsinger, and Sofia Zulli; fourteen great-grandchildren: Shelby Hammond, Emma Riffe, Skylar Hammond, Jackson Vertar, Elaina Riffe, London Babauta, Brooklyn Vertar, Crew Babauta, Cash Babauta, Grace Kees, Graham Kees, Lily Kees, Ellie Kees, Noah Kees; and many nieces, nephews and friends.

She was born January 16, 1938 in Portsmouth, Ohio. She was a member of the Portsmouth High School class of 1956 and, in her younger days, was a faithful member of the Gay Street United Methodist Church. She was preceded in death her parents, Harold and Louise Bricker, and by two sisters, Anita Skaggs and Mable Vance.

Per LaVonne's wishes, there will be no services or visitation but a celebration of life will be planned at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to SOMC Hospice, Portsmouth, Ohio.

Please visit www.fcdaehlermortuary.com to leave a special memory of LaVonne or condolences for her family.