Opal Louise Howerton 1925 ~ 2015Opal Louise Wolfenbarger Howerton, age 90, passed away on September 27th, 2015, and was reunited with her beloved husband Kenneth. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 2 pm on Monday, October 5, 2015 in the Chapel of Cloverdale Funeral Home, 1200 N. Cloverdale Rd., Boise. Burial will immediately follow the service in Terrace Lawn Memorial Gardens, 4225 E. Fairview Ave., Meridian, ID 83642. Opal was born on August 1, 1925 to Louise (Linse) and Dewey Wolfenbarger, in Denton Montana. Their home was in the center of the wheat farmlands of Montana where the closest neighbors were miles away. Opal and her older brother James attended a one-room school house, and rode horseback to get to school. Opal had many fond memories of attending community barn dances, where Dewey and Louise often sang together as part of the entertainment. During the Great Depression years, the family packed up all their belongings in the back of a pickup truck and moved to Boise, Idaho, arriving in 1934. Her parents were very musical, with Louise playing the piano and Dewey playing the banjo, fiddle or guitar. Her brother played the piano and accordion, so the house was always full of music. Opal had a beautiful singing voice, and participated in many choirs. She was also an accomplished pianist and could sit down and play by heart for hours. In Idaho, Opal attended Garfield School, and Boise High School. In her senior year Opal met the love of her life, Kenneth Howerton. They fell in love on their first date. They graduated Boise High in 1943. World War II had started and Kenneth joined the Army Air Force and was sent to Buckley Field in Denver. He proposed to Opal and they were married in Denver, Colorado, on April 6, 1944. When Kenneth was transferred to Kearns Air Force Base in Utah, they lived in a boarding house in Salt Lake City. Opal got a job at Fort Douglas as a secretary. Kenneth bought a snazzy 1938 Oldsmobile convertible and they drove that car everywhere in high style. After Kenneth was discharged from the Air Force, they returned to Boise. Ken built the first of four homes and they welcomed a son, Ronald Dusty Howerton, and then a daughter, Patricia Opal Howerton. Opal passed along her love of music to her family and their home was always filled with song, with Ken chiming in with beautiful whistling. Opal worked as an executive secretary for the Bureau of Reclamation and retired after 20 years. Ken worked for Idaho Power for 30 years, and when both of them had retired, Ken built a home for them in the mountains, up in Centerville, Idaho. This was their favorite home, and they spent many happy years there, up in the pines. Opal was a prolific writer with a great vocabulary and spelling skills. She wrote poetry, stories about family history and their life in the mountains. Both she and Ken wrote for the Centerville newspaper. Opal loved to read books and magazines, and had a personal library of many types of books. Opal was a member of the First Christian Church in Boise. She participated in many church activities, attended numerous bible studies, and provided computer artwork for the church's bulletin boards on a weekly basis. In later years, Opal arranged and conducted bible study classes in her home for a small group of friends and relatives. She was a woman of strong convictions and quiet faith. Opal loved animals, especially horses and cats. Over the years she had several spoiled and much loved kitties, and also a very clever parakeet. In their home in the mountains, Opal enjoyed the little chipmunks, cottontails, and all the wonderful little songbirds. Ken and Opal loved camping and traveling to different national parks. They and their traveling buddies, Bud and Lynne Schoenfeldt, pulled their camper trailers all over Idaho, the Oregon Coast, Canada, and most of the western states. Opal had quite a green thumb, and loved to plant and raise flowers. At every home, she brightened the yard with many flower beds, and most especially roses. She also had quite a knack with tomatoes, and her yearly tomato bushes were literally forests, with bushes taller than her head. When people speak of Opal, they remember her as a kind, sweet, loving person, who had a great sense of humor. She loved her family fiercely, and adored her dear husband. When Kenneth died in 2013 after 69 wonderful years of marriage, Opal lost her heart, her strength, and the center of her universe. We know she is now with her dear Kenneth, and they are smiling, holding hands and singing a song together. Opal was preceded in death by her husband Kenneth, her parents, Louise and Dewey Wolfenbarger, and her brother James Wolfenbarger. She is survived by her son, Ronald Howerton, her daughter, Patty Howerton, her granddaughter, Tricia Howerton, and her faithful kitty, Cookie. The family would like to thank Overland Court Senior Living and Memory Care, and the wonderful Generations caregivers. Condolences may be left for the family on Opal's page at www.cloverdalefuneralhome.com