Faith Janeille Howard, 83

Faith Janeille (Baldwin) Howard, 83, of Columbia Falls, passed away peacefully on May 27 from diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (non-germinal center type), surrounded by her loving family. She was born on May 12, 1943, in Wallace, Idaho, the oldest of three, to Jerrald and Dorothy (Bell) Baldwin. 

She attended school in Columbia Falls for nine years and finished high school, graduating from Flathead High School in Kalispell in 1961. She then moved to Seattle for a year for dental assistant training. 

Faith married Robert "Bob" Howard on June 16, 1962. They lived in Missoula for seven years while Bob attended the University of Montana and he worked as a smoke jumper before settling down in Martin City in 1969. Faith worked for two different dentists from 1962 to 1969.  

Faith sold Artex while her two children were growing up. In 1989, she began working for Dr. Freiss in Columbia Falls, retiring after 18 years. She also worked part-time at the Town Pump in Columbia Falls and Whitefish. In the early '90s, she became an EMT with the Canyon QRU for many years and was proud to follow the doctor’s code of “Do No Harm." 

Faith had many hobbies: making jewelry, gem cutting, scrapbooking, knitting, counted cross stitch, crocheting, photography, book reading, and endurance and competitive trail riding on her beloved horses, Colby and Teyna. 

Faith did a great deal of traveling, places such as Tahiti, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Canada, Mexico and all over Montana. She was a “snowbird” in Yuma, Arizona, from 2012 to 2025. 

Faith was preceded in death by her husband, parents, parents-in-law and grandparents.  

She is survived by her sister, Dianne (Ted) Murer, brother, Gary (Florence) Baldwin; her children, Janeille Howard and Brett (Manda) Howard; grandchildren, Malyssa (Shawn) Behmerwohld, Bryan Sparks, Bethany (Matthew) Mena, Kalyb Sparks and Marcus (Jessica) Howard; great-grandchildren, Alessandra, Mikayla, Klayton, Matteo, Jameson, Kaden, as well as two unborn great-grandchildren, Kassidy and Kairo, and many various nieces and nephews.  

A graveside service will be held on June 5 at Fairview Cemetery, 1225 Fairview Road, Columbia Falls, at 1 p.m. A potluck gathering will be held directly afterward at 141 Stonefly Way, Columbia Falls. To send online condolences, please visit: columbiamortuary.com. Columbia Mortuary in Columbia Falls is caring for the family.