Obituary of Stephanie Thomas Howard

Stephanie Thomas Howard, 75, of Dallas, TX, died early Saturday morning, February 1, 2020 at Faith Presbyterian Hospice after a 20 month battle with pancreatic cancer. Funeral service will be at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church on Saturday, February 29, 2020 at 11:00 am with Reverend Sarah Are officiating. Merit Memorial will be handling the funeral arrangements. Stephanie was born in Spokane, WA to the late Mary B and Sherman Thomas on February 8, 1944, and later that year moved to Vinita, Oklahoma - her beloved hometown. She graduated Co-Valedictorian from Vinita High School in 1961 and attended Oklahoma University (OU) where she joined Pi Beta Phi sorority. For the last 20 years she attended annual reunions with her lifelong Pi Phi friends. Stephanie met her future husband Eddie (Edward Ray Howard Jr.) at OU’s Sooner Scandals in the spring of 1962. They married June 29, 1963 in Vinita. Over the next 10 years, she and Eddie lived in 7 cities and had 3 boys before settling in Dallas in 1973. That same year they became members of Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church (PHPC). They taught Sunday school, attended the Family Life Class, and joined a PHPC cluster group. These long time cluster friends have come to be like family. Stephanie continued her education earning a BA in History from the University of North Texas and a Masters degree in anthropology from Southern Methodist University. While working on her doctorate (ABD), her mom became ill. Stephanie took over her mom’s part time job at Techstyles, Inc. and soon realized how much she enjoyed the business. When her mom died in 1984, she stopped pursuing her doctorate, started working full time, and became co-owner of Techstyles, Inc. The family business grew and thrived after Stephanie joined the company. She supported numerous arts and charitable organizations and volunteered with NEXUS, where she had many Nexus volunteer friends. She highly valued knowledge and education and was an avid reader. She traveled extensively: summiting Mount Kenya with her girlfriends; tracking the African mountain gorillas with Eddie; exploring Alaska in an RV; and traveling internationally with best friends, Jeff and Anja Woodson. For 25 years, she and Eddie cherished their annual visits to John and Christine Haddock’s Santa Fe cottage home - enjoying its high desert enchantment and culture while reading, hiking, relaxing, and eating scrumptious New Mexican cuisine. Stephanie was independent, gracious, beautiful, graceful and deeply caring - described by many friends as the most empathetic person they’ve ever known. She cherished her family and was a role model to all she touched. Stephanie was the love of Eddie’s life, his best friend, his soul mate, and his earth angel. Pi Phi friend, Janie Redding Emery, remembers her as an angel in disguise. Stephanie is survived by her husband Eddie; three sons and their wives Eric and Yutong, Carey and Sarah, and Joel and Heidi; grandchildren Austin, Ethan, Finn, Lu Yao and Jiaze; niece Alison and her sons Sammy and Charlie; nephew Mike and his wife Anne; cousins Mary Virginia, Pam and husband Gene and their daughters Emmie and Elena. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to any of the following: American Cancer Society KERA Habitat for Humanity The Nature Conservancy NEXUS The family wishes to thank the staff at T. Boone Pickens Faith Presbyterian Hospice for their professional care and attentiveness. The spacious facilities were warm and comfortable to us and our many visitors.