Howard’s Obituary Howard Guthrie, devoted husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, peacefully joined his Lord and Savior on Saturday, February 23, 2019. He was born in Graves County, Kentucky, on October 26, 1928. He was the oldest of five brothers and one foster brother.
He grew up on a farm and went to county schools where he was introduced to basketball. In the eighth grade he played in the first game he ever saw. He played ball for Wingo High School for four years and when he was graduated, he was offered a scholarship to Holmes Junior College in Goodman, Mississippi.
From there he was recruited by Casey Vincent to play for Bethel College in McKenzie, Tennessee, where he earned his B.S. Degree. About that time Dyersburg High School was in need of a men’s basketball coach so G.D. Stephenson hired him as the head coach. He taught and coached at DHS for twelve years and took his team to the Regional Tournament ten times.
In 1967 Howard changed directions when he became the principal of Lake County High School in Tiptonville. He left there in 1970 to become the headmaster of Fayette Academy in Somerville. In 1973 Howard and the family moved back to Dyersburg and bought Boyd’s Men’s Store.
He said his boys were becoming teenagers and he wanted to be closer to home. He and his boys spent a lot of time together in the store he named Guthrie’s Men’s Store. In 1985 Dr. Karen Bowyer gave Howard the opportunity to work for Dyersburg State Community College as a recruiter for the college and as a coach.
When he started as the coach, the program was struggling. However, during his ten-year tenure the teams became well-respected in Region 7 and were one of the nation’s highest scoring junior college teams. Howard loved the people of Dyersburg and Dyer County.
He said that there was no better place to live. He came to Dyersburg in 1954 as a teacher and coach and stayed as an active member of the community. He served as alderman for twenty years and was a Rotarian with 35 plus years of perfect attendance.
Howard was an active deacon at First Baptist Church, Dyersburg, for over fifty years. Then he was honored to be named deacon emeritus. For many years he taught Sunday School and later in life he enjoyed the fellowship of the men in the Biblos Life Group led by Buck Tarpley.
Another part of his life at church was singing in the choir for over fifty years. Many Sundays he would sing bass in a quartet number led by Rodney Henry. In more recent years Rodney started a group called the Men’s Chorale made up of Baptist men who liked to sing together – talented musicians (or not).
He would book them into a ‘gig,’ as he called it, in any place where they were invited. Howard loved singing with them. After retiring from coaching, Howard volunteered with Habitat for Humanity for 20 years with his friend and neighbor Charles James and many others.
He had a small part in helping to build over 20 Habitat houses. Howard is survived by his wife of 63 years, Ida Ryland Guthrie, his sons George H. Guthrie (Pat) of Vancouver, Canada, David P. Guthrie (Kim) and John “Al” Guthrie (Penny); grandchildren Rebecca Parker (Buckley), Ryland Guthrie, Catherine Reinhard (Adam), Joshua Guthrie, Anna Guthrie, Erin Terry (David), MacKenzie Guthrie, Kody Howard and Sara Jo Fountain (Jake); great-grandchildren Jay, Hayden, Will and Andalyn. He is also survived by his brothers Gilliam Guthrie (Betty) of Mayfield, Kentucky, Larry Guthrie (Reta) of Paducah, Kentucky, and his brother-in-law Porter Ryland (Joan) of Dyersburg and sister-in-law Tommie Strack of Midland, Texas.
He was preceded in death by his parents Euin and Annie Guthrie, his brothers Harold “Sonny” Guthrie and E. C. “Junior Guthrie, and Raymond Strand, a foster brother. The family will receive friends from 5-8 p.m. on Wednesday, February 27 in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m., Thursday, February 28, also in the sanctuary.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be sent to the First Baptist Church Building Fund, Habitat for Humanity, or a charity of the donor’s choice. The family wishes to express gratitude to anyone who visited or expressed kindness to Howard while he was sick. We especially thank his faithful caregivers Tonya Moten and Evon Seiber.
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