Obituary of Jessie Howell

Jessie Stone Jones Howell died peacefully at Wingate at Ulster on Monday, Oct. 20, 2008. Jessie was born in Oxford, NY on Oct. 2, 1916 to Grace E. and C. Lynn Stone. She graduated from Oxford Central School in 1934, attended Potsdam Normal School and graduated from Cortland Normal School in January 1938. She taught in a one room school house in the Deposit Central School District from 1938 to 1941. She married Robert E. Jones on April 12, 1941, from whom she was divorced in 1948. On Nov. 26, 1966, she married Robert W. Howell II, who died on Sept. 11, 1972. Jessie was the Executive Director of the Chenango County TB & Health Association from 1944 to 1963. In August of 1963, she became the Executive Director of the Dutchess County TB & Health Association which became the NYS Lung Association of Dutchess & Columbia Counties. She retired in June 1982. By 1984, she was tired of staying home and went to work for the MidHudson Library System and stayed with them until 1999. She belonged to Trinity Methodist Church and was active in many of their organizations. Jessie was a "people person", who loved music. As a teenager, she played the harp in concerts around Chenango County. During her years in Oxford, she was an active participant in the village affairs and played the piano for community sings on Friday nights in the village park as well as playing in a dance band on Saturday nights. She was the choir director for the Congregational Church in Oxford for many years. She is survived by her daughter, Roberta (BobbieAnne Jones) Gordon, son-in-law, James F. Gordon, beloved grandson, Steven J. Gordon and his wife, AnneMichelle, her niece, Nancy Stone Partridge and a cousin, John Cornue and his wife, Tish. Calling hours will be 10 a.m. to 12noon, Thursday, Oct. 23, at the Timothy P. Doyle Funeral Home Inc., 371 Hooker Ave., Poughkeepsie. Funeral services will follow visitation at 12noon. Burial will be at a later date, at the Riverview Cemetery in Oxford, NY. In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Jessie's name to your favorite charity.