Coralee P. Howell

Coralee P. Howell, 85, of Grand Island died Saturday, November 21, 2015, at the Nebraska Heart Hospital in Lincoln.

Funeral services will be at 11:00 A.M. Wednesday at Trinity Lutheran Church. The Rev. Jack Gillam will officiate. Burial will be in the Grand Island Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 4 to 6 P.M. Tuesday at Apfel Funeral Home. Memorials are suggested to Trinity Lutheran Church for scholarships to Concordia University at Seward, Nebraska.

Mrs. Howell was born on April 25, 1930, at rural Hastings, Nebraska to William H. and Lora C. (Hasebrook) Utecht. She graduated from Hastings High School in 1947, and later attended the Lincoln School of Commerce and Central Community Colleges of Hastings and Grand Island.

Coralee was united in marriage to Lawrence Webster III on February 28, 1954, at Hastings, NE. They had two children, Bill and Kathleen. On January 2, 1977, Coralee married Robert W. Howell. The couple made their home in Grand Island. Mr. Howell preceded her in death on March 6, 2002.

Throughout her life, she lived in Hastings and Lincoln, NE; Denver, CO; Rockford, IL; Omaha, NE; Hermosa Beach, CA; and Grand Island, NE. She was employed as a financial secretary for the Liederkranz and for Philip Johnson, CPA in Hastings, Illinois Bell in Rockford, IL and Lincoln Telephone and Telegraph in Hastings.

Coralee was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church and Lutheran Womens Missionary League, where she served as secretary/treasurer of the Ruth Society. She was a past president of the Ladies Society of the Grand Island Liederkranz Club, was a member of the Platt Duetsche Ladies Club and board member of the Grand Island Christian Womens Club and the International Training in Communication. She was also a member of the YWCA and Saddle Club.

She will be dearly remembered for her kraut runzas and special times with her family and friends. She enjoyed playing bridge, traveling and reading. She was the life of our party, and the glue that held the family together.

Survivors include one son and daughter-in-law, William and Lisa Webster of Charlotte, NC; one daughter and son-in-law, Kathleen Reed Knight and Mike Knight of Toledo, OR; one step-daughter, Sheryl (Howell) Leapley of Lakewood, CO; one step-son, Tom Howell, of Sacramento, CA; one sister, Jacqueline Green of Hastings, NE; grandsons, Brooks and wife Natalie Reed of Atlanta, GA and Lucas Reed of Albuquerque, NM; granddaughters, Katie Reed of Flagstaff, AZ, Mary Beth (Greg) Pulver, Amy (Andrew) Weiler and Ruth Ann (Daniel) Cardani all of Charlotte, NC; step-granddaughters, Molly Bartels and Emily Mehring of Lakewood, CO; step-grandson, Christopher Howell of Portland, OR; seven great-grandchildren, Joy and Issac Pulver, Elle and Caeden Weiler, Oliver, Lucy and Heidi Cardani; four step great-grandchildren, McKinnley,Trenton, Evan and Kelsey.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; step-son, Rev. Robert Howell, Jr. and three brothers, LaMoine, Duane and Claris Utecht.