Mr. Howard Hamrick

Always abounding in the work of the Lord, and knowing that his toil was not in vain, the Reverend Howard Hamrick completed his final “project” this week. He died peacefully at home, under hospice care, and among family and friends. A modern renaissance man, he had been a missionary, farmer, pastor, counselor, preacher, teacher, and tinkerer. He was 90. A child of the Great Depression, Howard Hamrick grew up one of six children in the sawmill company towns of Piave and Crosby in southern Mississippi. Following the work, his father, Lawrence, was a shipping foreman for the mills. His mother, Lottie Mae, gardened, tinkered, cooked, and sewed for the community with all the children fetching tools and taking turns powering the treadle sewing machine on which she worked. During WWII, four children saw active duty. Howard served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theatre aboard LST 452. All the children went to college. Howard received his education at Mississippi College, University of Southern Mississippi, Mississippi State University, and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He held graduate degrees in both education and divinity. He met and married Betty Spiers in 1949 while at Mississippi College. After early pastorates in Moselle and Smithdale, MS, then Steele, MO, he and Betty received Missionary Appointment from the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board to Indonesia in 1958. The family, then with two children, moved abroad. The third child was born in Indonesia. Howard and his family returned to Mississippi in 1962 and served pastorates in Fairfield, Improve, and Union, usually while farming on the side as supplemental income. In 1973, he returned to school and became a Marriage and Family Counselor, working in that field until his retirement in 1991. He and Betty moved to Alabama in 1992 to be closer to family and grandchildren. They continued to travel on short home mission assignments from Colorado and Iowa to Canada. They were active at Calvary Baptist Church. Prior to that time they were members of Shiloh Baptist Church, Scottsboro where he served as a Deacon. Driven by a sacred wonder and curiosity, Howard was an inveterate tinkerer, drawing bystanders into his various adventures, inventions and projects. He continued to teach and is most recently remembered for his traveling performance depicting the Life of the Apostle Paul. Howard is survived by his wife of 67 years, Betty Spiers Hamrick; his daughters: Virginia Guffey, Kay Hamrick, and Connie Johnston. Children of Kay Hamrick: Jonathan Giddens(wife Monica, great-grandchildren Ava and Emma Giddens), Bradford Giddens(wife Lindsay, great-grandchildren Ethan and Owen Giddens), and Jamie Giddens. Children of Connie Johnston: Samuel and Benjamin Johnston. He is also survived by his brother David Hamrick. Services will be held Saturday, February 25, at Calvary Baptist Church in Scottsboro. Visitation begins at 1pm, followed by the service at 2pm. Interment will be in Pine Haven cemetery with the immediate family only. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to Calvary Baptist Church, 305 County Park Road, Scottsboro, AL. A designation has been made for a missionary family in Southeast Asia. Arrangements Entrusted to Scottsboro Funeral Home.

Mr. Howard Hamrick

August 21, 1926 - February 22, 2017