A Hero Among Us

This is a letter I wrote and posted on my own blog when I heard the news:

Dear Brother Howells,

My heart was saddened to learn that you were taken from this earth so unexpectedly. It weighed even heavier knowing that I missed the chance to thank you in this life for the lasting impact you made on mine. I last saw you at my wedding reception 6 ½ years ago, and I should have thanked you then. I can only hope to have the chance one day to tell you, but for now I thank your family for sharing you with so many of us.

I was a sophomore at CDO during your first year of teaching seminary there (1996). I think all of us were a little unsure about getting a new teacher, but you won everyone over pretty quickly. Your enthusiasm for the Gospel was contagious, and your ability to make studying it fun was just what we all needed. It was through studying the Book of Mormon in seminary that year that I first really gained a testimony of the Gospel. Your own personal example of kindness has stayed with me through the years. You had an ability to show genuine interest in each of us as individuals, which for me personally made me feel important during a time when I was struggling and really needed a boost. You were like an extra father figure to me, and to many of us.

Your dedication to and love for your family is also something I will always remember. You couldn’t talk about your wife without completely lighting up, and you kept a framed poem she had written to you in your office. Surely your children have grown up a lot in the past ten years, but I remember your two darling little girls coming to visit you at Seminary, and how you and they both would light up every single time. I knew that I wanted to live my life in such a way that I could have a family like that someday.

All I have left to say is thank you. Thank you for giving of yourself, for living in an exemplary way, for loving those around you, for changing lives. I thank your family for sharing your light with us, and my heart goes out to them as I know they will be sorely missing you along with the rest of us.

Til we meet again,
Jeanine Kramer Benson