Robert C. Howell treated veterans with the respect and gratitude he felt was warranted for their military service.
In Douglasville, he rode parade floats on Independence Day and Veterans Day. He partook in the annual Memorial Day affairs and Flag Day programs.
"I have a picture of him at the last Memorial Day he went to in 2010, and he was saluting," said a niece, Susan Bragg of Douglasville. "I almost couldn't take the picture. It was so touching and so meaningful, and you knew it was from the bottom of his heart."
Mr. Howell would scan local newspaper obituaries for death notices of military personnel. He would go to the funeral home during visitation, stand before the casket and salute. If relatives of the deceased were present, he would offer assistance. Then he would give them a sympathy card signed by members of Douglasville's American Legion Post No. 145.
"He probably did it for 600 or 700 families," said Rebecca Thompson, a staff member at Jones-Wynn Funeral Home. "He was that honored to be a veteran, and he felt that every veteran deserved to be honored."
"You know how they say World War II veterans make up the greatest generation?" Mrs. Thompson said. "Well, he epitomizes that."
On Tuesday, the 93-year-old vet died of congestive heart failure at Tanner Medical Center in Villa Rica. A funeral is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday in the chapel of Jones-Wynn Funeral Home, followed by burial with full military honors in Douglasville's Sunrise Memorial Gardens.
Born in Young Harris, he joined the Army and served in the infantry and later as an engineer in North Africa and Italy. One assignment required him to remove land mines and bombs that had failed to detonate.
After the military, he moved to Douglasville and worked as a carpenter till retirement. He belonged to Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 10798 as well as the local American Legion post. The Douglas County Board of Commissioners honored his civic-mindedness with an engraved brick in a walkway located at the county courthouse.
This vet lived independently in a house between his sister, Virgie Chandler, and Mrs. Bragg, his niece. He had been extremely active until a stroke three years ago.
He and Mary Morgan, a friend, ate Sunday dinner together for years. After church, he often called to ask whether she had dined. If not, he would show up.
"He'd fix a whole dinner for me," she said. "He'd do things I wouldn't even know he was going to do, and when I was able, I'd cook for him. We were good friends."
Mr. Howell was married twice, to the late Henrietta Howell and Martha McMichen Howell.
In addition to his sister, survivors includea brother, Herman Howell of Albany; stepdaughters Phyllis Daniell of Douglasville, Carol Tyner of Athens and Lucy Durand of Austell; stepsons Jimmy Pilgrim of Douglasville and Leonard Pilgrim of Rome; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
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