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Mark and Marlene Howell
with Rachel and Daniel.
Mark and Marlene Howell moved to Tennessee
13 years ago when their family was young and Mark was a
bright young preacher called to service at the Atwood
Church of Christ. Married just six years at the time,
their son Daniel was four years old and Rachel was a baby
when parishioner Bill McGregor - helping the Howells
unload their belongings at their new home - noted with
satisfaction upon spying Mark's toolbox, "This preacher's
going to be alright; he's got a toolbox."
Little did he know Mark was as adept with the tools of the
heart, mind and soul as he was with the ones accustomed to
the grip of his hand.
Mark and Marlene had known each other throughout their
lives, their families active in Churches of Christ just 30
minutes apart in Winfield and Carbon Hill, Alabama. While
earlier memories of Mark reveal he was all boy - "Mama
said he pushed me down when I was about five," Marlene
shares - he also started early on to take the steps that
would eventually lead them to Carroll County, Tennessee.
"He would come and preach once a month in my
congregation," Marlene says, explaining, "They let the
young boys do that to give them an opportunity to preach."
Mark started his youthful apprenticeship around the age of
12 when, he and Marlene laugh, he couldn't see over the
pulpit.
Mark grew up in an environment that honed his skills and
sharpened his mind, living on a beef cattle farm where
corn and hay was also grown, amongst the business dealing
of his father and grandfather whose joint and separate
enterprises included a used car dealership, grocery store,
mobile home dealership and building contractor and a body
shop.
"I had plenty to keep me busy," he grins with raised
eyebrows and a knowing nod.
Marlene also grew up in the Alabama countryside where her
father was an electrician and her mother a homemaker.
Their rural roots and similar upbringings, while making
them perfect companions, also made them ripe for the rural
charms of West Tennessee.
Not that the pair were more than just friends as the years
wore on with Mark's monthly visits to Marlene's church.
"When I was 17 he finally asked me out - finally!" she
says, recalling that prior to his invitation she would
catch him staring at her.
Mark, who was then 19, smiles tenderly at his wife,
adding, "I just waited until I guess the right time;
Marlene's really the only girl I ever dated."
Having broken the ice, the couple wasted no time getting
to the altar a year later, marrying in 1984 when she was
18 and he was 20 years old.
"We were kids!" Marlene exclaims, laughing. "We didn't
realize it at the time; we just knew enough to be
dangerous."
Always interested in science and art, Marlene pursued her
artistic side for two semesters before "having babies"
sidetracked her education. Mark continued his studies,
having been given the opportunity to attend Faulkner
University, a Christian university in Montgomery, Alabama
from which he graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in
Bible in 1989, the year before moving to Atwood.
Pulling up roots in Alabama was not the traumatic event
one might suppose for the close-knit couple: "I knew when
we came up here to try things out that I wanted to stay; I
just fell in love with the people," Marlene enthuses,
wide-eyed, "I was in a way scared we wouldn't get
it...It's been the best thing that ever happened to our
family."
Daniel and Rachel agree, though both were too young to
know they were transplanted to Tennessee soil. "This is
the only house I've ever known," Rachel shrugs.
Both children are honor students and members of the band
at West Carroll High School. Daniel, 17, a trumpet player,
plans to study music education or performance after
graduating next year. Rachel, at 14, plays the French horn
and, her mom says, "loves art, sewing, cross stitching;
she's really neat at picking up scraps of things and
turning them into really neat things.
"They're both really creative kids," Marlene continues,
"We pretty much all grew up together; they've turned out
pretty good in spite of us experimenting on them. We have
wonderful children; they're the best kids; they've never
caused us a day of trouble. Having teenagers is wonderful
as far as I'm concerned."
For the past ten years while raising their family, Marlene
has maintained a connection with her artistic side in her
frame and print shop, "Fine Line Designs", located on Main
Street in Atwood, while also rendering her own color
pencil creations. That all changed in the year 2000 when
her husband, a firefighter in Atwood almost since moving
to town, found out about "First Responders".
It all started, the Howell's share, when an accident
occurred just outside their home one evening. The car was
on its top, with the driver still inside with a broken
leg. "It takes 20 minutes for an ambulance to get to
Atwood from McKenzie," says Mark, uneasy with the
helplessness of that long-ago evening. In time, a
helicopter landed in the church parking lot next door and
airlifted the patient to safety, but Mark knew it could
have been more serious.
A fellow firefighter told him about the First Responders
Program that was organized by Chuck Latimer and other
paramedics and EMTs of the Baptist Hospital Emergency
Medical Services team. Knowing Marlene's interest in
science and the medical field, Mark convinced her to take
the classes to become a first responder too.
The course was much more intensive than the Howells had
anticipated, with testing required for state licensure.
"It turned out to be very detailed," Marlene explains,
"not quite an EMT but a level below.
"That's what got me into nursing," she continues in a
voice high with interest. "We were going to have our last
class and I said, 'I just really can't stand the thought
of stopping here.'"
After receiving their First Responder license in September
2001, Marlene went right into fall classes at Jackson
State Community College. Now working as a nurse intern at
Jackson General Hospital in the surgical intensive care
unit while also attending classes, she will complete her
studies in December this year. She expects her new career
will fulfill her love for science and people while
continuing to operate the frame shop on a part-time basis
will satisfy the artist within.
"I've had to go to appointment only," she says regarding
the scaled-back enterprise. "It's not really open to the
public like it used to be. Still, it's hard to let go of
something you've done for ten years." Marlene is hopeful
the shop will become a fun distraction rather than
strictly a business once the dust has settled from her
career change.
Mark has kept busy as well, earning a masters degree in
ministry at Freed-Hardeman University in 1998. Two years
ago, he was asked to serve as assistant chief of the
Atwood Fire Department. "Mainly I'm in charge of training
and recruiting for the fire department, then a little bit
of everything else," he says, adding, "We recently got a
new fire truck in Atwood and we're all proud of that."
"He does a little bit of everything," Marlene expounds,
citing his expertise in web design and editing. Mark has
been an editor for the Church of Christ-affiliated
publication "House to House, Heart to Heart" since it's
beginning, when fellow former-Faulkner student Allen
Webster broached the idea.
"It's a major operation now," smiles Marlene, quoting a
circulation of 1,300,000 between 450 churches in the
United States and Canada.
The two friends have also co-edited other publications,
like a Faulkner University lecture book. Mark is also a
member of the Carroll Arts Board of Directors and recently
took Marlene's position on the Board of the Carroll County
Chamber of Commerce when school and other responsibilities
prevented Marlene from participating.
Ironically, about a year after the accident that
introduced the Howell's to the need for participation in
the First Responder Program, Mark says, "We got a call for
an accident over towards Lavinia and it was the same lady.
We did get to help her eventually, and this time it wasn't
quite as bad.
"The First Responder Program is really great; it's an
all-volunteer program," says Mark. Marlene agrees, "It's
been one of the just really most satisfying things to do.
We love working with First Responders; we love helping
people in the community."
Mark's parents are James (Bud) and Wilma Howell and
Marlene's parents are Larry and Maylene McWhirter, all of
Alabama. Mark has a brother and a sister in Alabama while
Marlene has one sister, also in Alabama. |
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