John Earl Howell and Clara Mae Henley married December 10, 1954. They lived in Henderson, Chester County, Tennessee where Aunt Clara Mae and her children continue their residence.

John Earl and Clara Mae were the only family members who lived close to us. Aunt Clara Mae worked at Chester County Manufacture in Henderson. My mother babysat for Aunt Clara Mae so their children and I grew up together. I remember Aunt Clara Mae always being soft and kind. Her patience was more than anyone could believe a person could have. I remember she was very talented with art. She showed us many times how to draw a woman's face with long wavy hair. Of course mine never looked anything like the beautiful drawings she created.

Aunt Clara Mae worked hard, loved her family and was the most kind person anyone would ever hope to meet. She has always been a combination of love, strength and patience. Aunt Clara Mae was beautiful and her beauty from within made her outer beauty special. She has earned great respect from all who know her. If anyone on earth has earned a halo it is Aunt Clara Mae.

The photo above has a background of what seems to be a county fair. I looked for a date but it has no date on it. I assume it was made at the Jackson, Tennessee County fair. I can't seem to find any other photo's of Aunt Clara Mae and this surprised me. I have grandmothers and Moms photos so I thought I would have more photos of her. 

December 25, 1955 Aunt Clara Mae gave birth to Jerry Wayne Howell. I always thought it was special that Jerry was born on Christmas Day. Jerry was also someone I admired greatly and was maybe a little jealous of:) Jerry was tall and slim with big blue eyes outlined by the longest blonde eye lashes. His hair was so blonde it was a shining silver blonde. As if he didn't get enough with the looks...he has always been very intelligent. He was blessed with the looks, brains and talent to do anything he wanted.

John Earl and Clara Mae's second child was born March 9, 1957, Danny Ray Howell. Danny was fun to be around. He loved to laugh and was always coming up with some crazy off the wall game to play. Sometimes it got us into a wee bit of a fix such as the time he discovered an old car that the trunk wouldn't shut. Danny had been playing with it and then took us to show how much fun it was to climb in and slam the trunk which always just bounced back up. I was a chicken so Jerry climbed in with me. Danny slammed the trunk and it bounced open. I climbed out but Jerry decided to take his turn alone. We slammed the trunk and it didn't bounce open. We tried pulling and tugging but to no success. There were no keys to the car. My sister Bonnie was panicking when Mom returned from the store. Bonnie yelled telling Mom as she drove into the driveway. It scared Mom so bad she jumped out of the car with it still rolling and ran to the old car. It was a very hot day and it became very scary. Mr. Brewer came over and managed to pull the back seat out of the car giving Jerry an escape.

The third child was Aunt Clara Mae and Uncle John Earl's only daughter. Patty Sue Howell was born July 16, 1958. Patty lived two months. She left this world September 22, 1958. The usgenweb has her cemetery records listed wrong showing she lived for several years.

The fourth child was born May 14, 1959, John Michael Howell. Michael was dark headed with big brown eyes if I remember correctly. He was very sweet and tagged along with the rest of us. He had a beautiful smile as they all did. A car accident took Michael away from his family in September 2, 1979. John Michael is sadly missed by his family.

Aunt Clara Mae gave birth to their fifth child March 8th, 1962. I do not remember Patty Sue but I do remember little Van David. He was beautiful. He left this world to keep Patty Sue company February 1963. I remember Aunt Clara Mae sitting on our sofa and her pain so deep. I was only seven but I remember. I did not realize until this very moment that Aunt Clara Mae was pregnant with her sixth child while dealing with the death of Van David.

On June 28th, 1963, Aunt Clara Mae had Tony Anthony Howell. I was around Tony a lot when he was small but not after he grew up. I only have one photo that I know of and it is of Tony and me in one of those instant photo booths in Jackson, Tennessee. I don't know where the other children were but Mom and my sister Bonnie went shopping in Jackson. Tony and I were allowed to take our photo in the booth which was a big deal to us.

Glenn Allen Howell was born into John Earl and Clara Mae's family March 4th, 1968. I was not around Glenn very much because Mom moved to Hickman County the summer of 1968 and in December I had to move there with her. I have no photo's of Glenn who now has children of his own.

This page is for Aunt Clara Mae Henley Howell with loving memories and great admiration.