Bobby Lee Howell, known to generations as "Coach Howell," passed away peacefully on February 8, 2026. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, February 14, 2026, at Bailey Howard Funeral Home Chapel. A visitation will be held from 1:00 p.m. until service time on Saturday at the funeral home. A private burial will follow in the Clyde Cemetery.

Bob was born on January 25, 1942, in Simms, Texas. Raised on his family's farm without electricity or indoor plumbing until third grade, he never let humble beginnings slow him down. Instead, they shaped a man who believed deeply in hard work, integrity, and the idea that people, especially young people, were capable of more than they realized.

While studying biology at East Texas State University, Bob met the love of his life, Carrie Howell. They were married for 59 years, building a life marked by devotion, laughter, and true partnership before her passing in 2022. Together, they raised their sons and instilled in them the same values Bob brought to his classroom and teams. When the nest was empty, Bob and Carrie became a formidable golf team, winning countless tournaments both together and individually. They often loaded the camper and traveled with friends to golf courses across the southwest, and one of their most treasured adventures was a 50th-anniversary cruise to Alaska with her sister and her late husband.

For 35 years, Bob did what he loved most: teaching, coaching, and leading in public education. He served schools in Celeste, Clyde, Granbury, Clarendon, and Trent, where he taught biology and chemistry, coached basketball and golf, drove buses, fixed what needed fixing, and somehow found time to do just about everything else, leaving an unforgettable mark on those around him.

To his athletes, Coach Howell was famous for believing in them sometimes loudly and often while blowing a whistle, "one more time." He pushed hard, expected effort, and demanded hustle, not because he was tough, but because he cared. Many former students will tell you they learned how to work, persevere, and keep going long after their legs were tired, lessons that stuck for life.

Bob was never one to stay behind a desk. As superintendent, he could be found in the lunchroom, the gym, the bus barn, or mowing the school lawn himself. He believed leadership meant showing up, pitching in, and valuing every person who made a school run.

He also had a creative streak, filling lunch napkins with drawings, teaching art with patience and joy, and occasionally grabbing a trumpet to play with the band. An avid golfer, a gifted artist, and an "odd-job extraordinaire," including working beside his nephew to renovate Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa. Bob never stopped teaching or learning, including a summer invite to Harvard.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Jeff and Eva Lee Howell, his beloved wife Carrie Howell, and his son Leland Howell. He is survived by his son Dyron Howell and wife Kelly, his loving sister Dorothy Landrum and her family, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren who knew him simply as "Granddaddy." In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Bob's memory to Snack Pak 4 Kids, 701 Park Place Ave., Amarillo, TX 79101, or online at sp4k.org.

Raise a glass of ice-cold Coke to Bob.