Obituary of Julia Aileen (Lyons) Howard

Julia L. Howard Obituary

Julia “Julie” Aileen Howard (Lyons), 61, passed away on August 11, 2023 following a short battle with cancer. She was born in Charleston, SC on January 13, 1962 and was a graduate of Fort Johnson High School. She worked with friends that became family at Northbridge Exxon for over 30 years, and remained with them as a caregiver during retirement. Julie loved to cook and could always be found in the kitchen, whether she was at her own home or someone else’s. She also loved to garden, bird watch, and go for walks with her dogs at the beach and at her home out on Edisto at Brick House Plantation. Julie endlessly gave to everyone around her, especially by cooking just to give it away at work or to her kids and friends. Often her kids came home from work and from picking up their own kids to find Julie there unannounced, putting the finishing touches on a delicious dinner in a kitchen that was mysteriously much cleaner than it was before she came. Other times she wouldn’t say a word, and the only sign she’d come by would be a delicious meal or neatly folded laundry. Julie also gave to St Judes Children’s Hospital each month without fail. She was quiet, concise, and never long-winded, but when she spoke it was always important, hilarious, or both.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Chief James Michael “Sparky” Howard of the Charleston Fire Department; and by her father, Lawrence “Walkie”

Lyons. She is survived by a daughter, Laura Howard Carpenter (James) of Charleston; a son, James Michael “Jimmy” Howard, Jr. of Charleston; two granddaughters, Avery and Emma Claire Carpenter; her sisters, Kathleen “Munch” Lyons and Susan “Betsy” Scott; and her many cousins at Brick House. A gathering for friends and family to remember Julie together will be announced at a later date. Julie loved flowers but would have also appreciated donations to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

While preparing this obituary, Julie’s oldest granddaughter (Avery, age 6) asked to “help.” This is what she wrote and/or dictated:

Julie Howard (“Grandma with Short Hair”) died on August 11, 2023. L She was born on Januwy 13. 1962 in Charleston. Julie Howard is Laura Carpenter and Uncle Jimmy’s mom. She married James Howard. She loves cats. And when she was born she spanked Laura once. Our tradition is she comes over to our house and bakes us breakfast pizza. She used to but she’s not anymore because she’s dead now. She also really likes flowers and plants. She loved all the foods. She loved her granddaughters and she had a friend who is Avery Carpenter’s grandma. Her favorite color was blue. She favorite princess was Ariel. Her daughter wanted her name to be Ariel but it wasn’t. Grandma liked Rockville. She loved her family and her cousins. And her cousins loved her too. Her favorite pattern was zigzag flowers. Her favorite show was Beauty and the Beast and

Tom and Jerry. Her favorite present was her swirly whirly mixer thing [Kitchen Aid mixer]. When she was a grown up she was not afraid of the dark and sometimes needed night night water. She didn’t give her daughter a lot of sunscreen. Her favorite thing was playing with her family and friends. Her zip code was 29414. When she was born her phones were attached to the wall. Her friend my other grandma really really really really likes her and they played together. We watched The Greatest Showman. Her school was named Fort Johnson. When she was born computers weren’t used and didn’t even exist. Her cats names were Guinness, Monkey, and Millie. Three of them were found in the road three separate times. One of her cats put their paws out like a rocket ship. Her favorite dessert was cupcakes.

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