Reba Mae Howd Obituary
Reba was born on March 1, 1921 to Ray and Clara (Smeltzer) Benson in Layfayette Township near Ithaca, Michigan. In 1942 she married Royce I. Howd and made her home with him in Lansing. They celebrated their 50th anniversary before he passed away in 1992.
Reba graduated from Ithaca High School in 1939, later attending Central Michigan College (now Central Michigan University) and Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State University) to earn her Bachelor of Science Degree in Education. She taught in a one room K-8 school and later taught music and 7th and 8th grades in Lansing Public Schools for over 20 years. She also ran two successful Lansing area businesses with her husband Royce including the first Shell gas station and Logan Center Hardware.
In 2004 she married Dale Hawbaker of Iowa and they enjoyed ten happy years traveling together between Iowa and Lansing and a vacation home in Texas until his death in 2014.
Reba is survived by her brothers Gerald, Lester (Verna), and Stanley (Marja) Benson and by her sisters Berneda (Charles) Denniston and Janice Miller.
She was preceded in death by her parents and brothers Harold (Margery) and Earl Benson and her sister Arlene (LeRoy) Roslund. She was also preceded in death by her sisters in law Virginia Benson and Frances Coleman and by her brother in law Dick Miller.
The family is being served by Barden Funeral Home in Ithaca. A memorial service will be held Saturday, September 10 at North Westminster Presbyterian Church at 743 N. Martin Luther King Blvd. Lansing, MI with Visitation at 10am followed by the memorial service at 11am and a luncheon at 12pm.
