Don Ella (Tow) Howard went to the Lord on October 19, 2017, at the age of 90 at Comanche County General Rehabilitation Center in Lawton, Oklahoma. She was born May 1, 1927, at Fleetwood, Oklahoma, the oldest of nine children born to Floyd and Marie Tow.

Don Ella graduated from high school at Sugden, Oklahoma. She attended college at Oklahoma College for Women in Chickasha, Oklahoma. After college, she taught at various schools in Jefferson County. Since she was baptized at the age 12 at Beaver Creek by the Sugden Methodist Church, Don Ella has been an active member and supporter of the Methodist Church everywhere she lived.

Don Ella married Duron H. Howard on September 2, 1949, at the Waurika United Methodist Church. They lived on a ranch southeast of Waurika until October of 1954, when they moved to Byars, Oklahoma. They purchased a ranch at Mulhall, Oklahoma, and moved there in the fall of 1958. They lived there until 1992 when they moved back to the Howard Ranch at Waurika.

Don Ella was very active in Church, 4-H, FFA, Extension Homemakers, Sorosis Club, and state and national sheep and wool growers. She was Director of the Make it With Wool Student Contest of Oklahoma. She participated in Oklahoma Farm Bureau Women and was awarded the President's gavel for outstanding leadership and service. She enjoyed judging Wool and Lamb Lead contests at state, regional, and national fairs. She was involved in activities in association with Duron on boards with Oklahoma State University, the United Methodist Church, and numerous sheep and cattle organizations. Duron and Don Ella were named Oklahoma Farm Family of the Year in 1957. In 2005, the Oklahoma Youth Expo inducted the Howard family as their first annual Hall of Fame award for their contributions to Oklahoma agriculture.

She was preceded in death by her husband Duron Howard, her son Darin Howard, her parents Floyd Tow and Marie (Langdon) Tow, brothers Maurice Tow and Larry Tow, and grandsons John Dreier and David Dreier.

She is survived by four children, Debra Dreier, Newton, KS; Durene Sampson, Cameron, OK; Dennis Howard, Waurika, OK; Darrell Howard, Mulhall, OK; nineteen grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren. She is also survived by sisters Gwen (Tow) Cox, Peggy (Tow) Phelps, and Phylis (Tow) Cogdill, and brothers Dwayne Tow, Jack Tow, and Phillip Tow.

Funeral services for Don Ella will be at 2:00 PM, Sunday, October 22, 2017, at the First United Methodist Church in Waurika with Adam Brinson officiating. Burial will be in the Waurika Cemetery.