Elaine Dell HowardMay 9, 1929 - Jan. 24, 2011 Funeral services for Mrs. Elaine Dell Howard, age 81, of Norman will be held at 1:00 pm Thursday, January 27, 2011 at the First Baptist Church, 211 West Comanche in Norman. Elaine was born May 9, 1929 in Ardmore, Oklahoma the daughter of Lawrence and Opal (Brown) Gugler. She passed into the hands of her Lord on January 24, 2011 at her home after a prolonged illness. Elaine was the youngest of three children and was raised in Ardmore during the Great Depression. She loved art and always had a pencil in hand to express her talent through drawing. Her talent did not go unnoticed and she won a statewide art contest her senior year of high school. As a result, Elaine was offered an art scholarship at the University of Oklahoma. She met and married Melvin J. Howard of Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1951. She devoted herself to her husband, children and church. She was a full time devoted mother for her four children, Jeffrey, Philip, Jennifer and Holly. Throughout the years she painted and showed at numerous art fairs and exhibits, with her favorite being the Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts. She especially loved painting portraits, watercolors, and pastels and many are displayed in homes throughout the area. Elaine was a lifelong Baptist and active in her church and spoke often of her enjoyment of the fellowship of her Sunday School Class. She loved to joke and laugh with family and friends. She will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved her. She is survived by her loving children, Jeffrey Howard and his family of St. Louis, MO, Philip Howard and Jennifer McFall and their families of Houston, TX, and her youngest daughter, Holly, of Norman; four grandchildren; five great grandchildren; and numerous members of her extended family and many great friends. She was preceded in death by her parents; and her husband, Mel. Visitation will be held from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm on Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at the Havenbrook Funeral Home, 3401 Havenbrook Street in Norman. Burial will conclude in the Bethel Cemetery in Glencoe, Oklahoma under the direction of the Havenbrook Funeral Home of Norman. Online condolences may be shared at www. havenbrookfuneralhome.com Memorial donations may be made in memory of Elaine Dell Howard to: The American Heart Association , 5700 North Portland, Suite 203, Oklahoma City, OK 73112.

Published in The Oklahoman on January 26, 2011