Howard honored for community dedication

Doris Howard has dedicated her life to volunteering. Now after serving 20 years on the Boundary County Community Restorium Board, she has decided to retire.

“I'm tired and I think they need younger people,” Howard said. “It's a worthwhile committee. It was a way I could help the community.”

Howard also has been visiting residents at the Restorium every Sunday since 1950, as well as volunteering to wash their hair on a weekly basis.

“Doris is like an icon in the community,” said Toni Hollingsworth, a member of Friends of the Restorium. “There are certain women who are like that, but no one realizes what they do. Doris has done a lot for the Restorium.”

Howard also is involved in United Methodist Church, where she has taught Sunday school for 35 to 40 years and serves on the church board. She was also a president of American Legion Auxiliary in 1966 and 1967 and belongs to Pythians Sisters fraternal group of the Knights of Pythians.

Howard is an active member of Old Time Fiddlers and had written bowling news for the Bonners Ferry Herald since 1960. She never missed a bowling season, but had to quit because she had a heart attack in October.

“I do what I can, but when I am 87 going on 88, I'm limited on what you can do,” said Howard.

She and her husband of 67 years, Lester L. Howard, have two children, Robert Howard, a lawyer in Tulsa, Okla., and Virginia Weller, who recently retired from working in medical records. The couple has four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.