Ola Frances Boyd Howell
Ola Frances Boyd Howell, lovingly known as Frances, passed away peacefully on the evening of Monday, July 14, 2025.
Born on February 5, 1934, Frances was raised as the only child of Herman and Inez Boyd in the Bemis community of Madison County, Tennessee. Though her family lived with modest means, her parents made sure she always had what she needed. She graduated from J.B. Young High School in Bemis in 1953 and soon after moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the FBI. Though her role in the file room wasn’t glamorous, it was a remarkable adventure for a young woman from Bemis.
After a divorce from her first husband, Frances returned to Bemis to raise her two children. Determined to build a better life, she put herself through nursing school while caring for her young family. In 1965, she married her one true love, Billy Neil Howell, and together they welcomed a third child.
Nursing became not only her profession, but her calling. Frances worked at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital and for a time alongside Dr. Robert Tucker in Bemis. She later taught at Western State Hospital in Bolivar, where she instilled in others the importance of treating individuals with mental disabilities with kindness, compassion, and dignity.
Her career later led her to Home Health and ultimately to hospice care, where she served with quiet grace and unwavering love. Frances brought comfort and light to countless lives, always seeking to make a difference wherever she was needed most.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Billy Neil Howell, and her beloved grandson, Christopher Mayberry.
She is survived by her children, Lisa King, Freida Lemons, and Fredrick Glenn Brooks; grandchildren, Beth Crow (Bryce), Kelly Marr (Ryan Ellington), Jason Brooks, Arie Brooks, and Amy Sipes (Jonathan); twelve great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
A service to celebrate the life of Frances Boyd Howell will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at the South Chapel of George A. Smith and Sons with Bro. Mark Schmaker officiating. Burial will follow in Highland Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends beginning at 11:00 a.m., two hours prior to the service.
Frances lived a life marked by resilience, compassion, and an unwavering devotion to those she loved and served. Her memory will live on in the many hearts she touched.
