Sheila Virginia (Sauvage) Howard Obituary (1932 - 2020)

Sheila Virginia Howard (nee Sauvage), born October 2, 1932 in Grand Blanc, Michigan, died September 23, 2020 of complications from congestive heart failure in Muncie, IN. Sheila was pre-deceased by the love of her life, her husband of sixty-seven years, William Andrew Howard, by just one year. Sheila is survived by her sister, Mrs. Kay (Bill) Anderson of Tucson, AZ and her brother, Mr. Charles (Lannie) Conrad Sauvage II; and her six daughters, Mrs. Deborah (Peter) Blackmore of Atherton, CA, Dr. Rebecca Hammons of Muncie, IN, Mrs. Lizabeth Howard (Bernard Deneau) of Montrose, CO, Mrs. Jennifer (Dan) Rich of Searsport, ME, Mrs. Martha (John) Swiger of Inman, SC, and Ms. Stephanie Howard of Madison, NJ. Sheila reveled in her role as grandma to Sean Broadhurst, John Howard, William Drewry, Richard Blackmore, Justin Drewry, Timothy Deneau, Robert Blackmore, Cameron Hill, Anna Drewry, and Andrew Hammons; step grand-daughter, Arianna Pianca; and great-grandsons William (Billy) Broadhurst, Calvin Drewry, and Albie Blackmore. Shelia graduated from Cooley High School in 1951. She worked for two years for The Ford Motor Company. Afterwards she focused on home making in Livonia, MI, Wycoff, NJ and Birmingham, MI for thirty years in support of her husband's career. In 1983, Sheila and Bill cut loose and built a custom retirement property at Tierra Linda Ranch in Kerrville, TX. There Sheila embraced a lifestyle of the Southwest and indulged her girlhood passion for riding horses, creating imaginative gardens and "riding herd" on her many grandchildren. After twenty years of hosting family get-togethers in Kerrville, Sheila and Bill moved to The Woodlands, TX and ultimately on to Melbourne Beach, FL where they resided near her younger brother Chuck Sauvage and his wife, Lannie, whose care and companionship they enjoyed. In her final year, Sheila moved to live near her daughter, Rebecca Hammons, at Morrison Woods in Muncie, IN. We are very grateful to the director and staff there for their caring and help during the Covid19 pandemic hardships. Sheila will be remembered for mothering six daughters, creating order out of domestic chaos, and for her fondness for babies and flowers and watching them grow. Sheila was a fine seamstress, gardener and interior decorator who doggedly tried to adapt her Great Depression era values and skills to our modern techno-not-logical world. She will be remembered and missed by all. Private memorial services will be held for Sheila at a later date. Local arrangements were entrusted to Dunnichay Funeral Home in Elwood. Online condolences can be given at www.dunnichayfuneralhome.com