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Wayne “Scott” Howard, a born storyteller, entered this world on October 9, 1964, to parents Wayne “Francis” Howard and Anna “Jean” Howard. He was born in Chicago and began his Royal Ranger journey at age 5 at Stone Church. Rangers, a faith-based ministry designed to teach boys how to become Christian men and leaders, wove its way through Scott’s entire life.
The family moved to Springfield, MO, when he was 9, and they began to attend Parkcrest Assembly of God. Scott quickly became involved with the Royal Ranger Outpost and was the Regional Ranger of the Year for Southwest Missouri. He is even the model for the Ranger Uniform on the front of the original Uniform Book. Scott continued in Rangers through high school earning his Gold Medal of Achievement and becoming a Jr. Leader.
He graduated from Kickapoo High School with Brad Pitt as a member of his graduating class. But Scott always said, “Brad Pitt graduated with me.” They had attended school together starting in the 4th grade when their moms were both room mothers. Scott always enjoyed sharing his 4th grade class picture of him and Brad.
Scott attended college at Southwest Missouri University, graduating December, 1987, with a BS in Computer Science. He remained faithful to church throughout his college years, becoming a member of FCF (Frontiersman Camping Fellowship) gaining his FCF name, “Crazy Hair” from the Wolverine hat he would wear. He was a member of the church’s co-ed volleyball team. Since he was the only “home boy” on the team full of college students from Evangel and CBC, he was asked if he would be willing to be the coach. He said, “You want to give me a list of girls’ numbers and a reason to call them? Yes!” One of the girls on that team was his future wife. Scott and Laura were married a few years later on May 7, 1988.
They moved to Ponca City, OK, and lived there for 16 years where Scott worked for Conoco and served as Royal Ranger Commander for Outpost 66. Scott also continued to play on multiple softball teams and worked really hard to teach Laura to play so they could play on a co-ed team together. Scott loved to hunt with his Dad, rappel, hike, and create things with his hands including leather work, wood work, and beading. He also pursued photography, taking many landscapes that decorated their home as well as wedding photos, senior pictures, and his favorite—sports photography. He traveled every weekend to a game somewhere, covering games for Blackwell, Tonkawa, and Ponca City. The Ponca City sports editor liked his photos so well he just started asking Scott for permission to use his photos in the Ponca City Newspaper.
Scott and Laura loved to camp, hike, ski, and travel, and they spent many vacations with great friends. They traveled multiple times through Yellowstone to Glacier National Park and up into Canada to Banff and the Canadian Rockies, dreaming every trip of the opportunity to one day live in the area.
Life took a big turn when Todd Mark Howard was born January 6, 1997, six weeks early. And then Derek was born July 26, 1999, ten weeks early. Scott worked very hard to be the best dad he could be. Just after Todd’s 4th birthday, the family had the opportunity they had dreamed of—to live in Calgary, Canada, for a little over 6 months—celebrating Derek’s 2nd birthday there.
Shortly after returning to Ponca City, Conoco and Phillips merged, and a little while later the family moved to Bartlesville, OK. Scott once again served as Ranger Commander, now for Outpost 2. He loved to teach Biblical principles with stories and could keep the oneriest boy engaged. He loved to teach knots, Dutch oven cooking (even blew up the sidewalk one night), archery, and fire craft. But his first love was Pinewood Derby. He spent hours helping his boys and many others create the fastest, coolest cars in the Section. He was often up all night before a race completing his car because he had given all of his time and attention to others.
Scott served continuously as a Ranger leader until January, 2020. He also served as a Deacon and Sunday School teacher while also teaching Archery for Sports Camp. He loved to tell a story or create a song to tell a story he had heard.
In 2017, Todd married Trinity McCracken, and Scott and Laura were finally blessed with a daughter. Scott was proud of all of his kids and loved opportunities to take trips with them, play games, talk, watch YouTube videos, or help in any time of crisis.
Scott and Laura had a lot more time to travel in the last few years, and after many years of insisting he never wanted to go on a cruise, Scott said, “Let’s go on the Love Like You Mean It cruise.” They scrambled to get passports lined up and left February 1st this year for Florida for a trip to Disney and then an 8-day cruise. Special memories were made. Then in March of this year, Scott had a stroke. As he was recovering, his greatest wish was that no one would ever have to take care of him. He recovered from his stroke, and he and Laura celebrated their 34th anniversary at Silver Dollar City where they had honeymooned 34 years before. On August 10, 2022, he passed instantly to heaven, never needing anyone to take care of him. Although Scott was the ultimate story teller, he also left his many friends and families with stories to tell of how he impacted their lives.
Scott is survived by his wife Laura, son Todd and wife Trinity, son Derek, mother Jean Howard, sister Frances Mitilineos, her husband Andreas and their son Tony, brother Jim Howard and his wife Judy, brother Stephen, and sister Rebecca, her husband Alan and daughter Alaina. His Dad preceded him in death.
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