Ethel Louise Linkletter was born on February 28, 1925, in Winnipeg, Canada. She was the daughter of Isaac and Edna (Stamy) Linkletter and the younger sister of Montague and John (Jack) Linkletter. Ethel's father, Isaac, was an ordained minister and served churches in Canada and in Iowa. With a father as a preacher Monty, Jack and Ethel were held to higher standards, which might explain some of the "adventures" these P.K.s (preacher's kids) got into while growing up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. One favorite story was when the 3 PKs caught some carp from the Cedar River and tried to slip them into the churches' baptism pool-the schema was discovered before the service. Another time, one of Thel's brothers' doubled dared her to go over and kiss her brother, who had scarlet fever. She did and soon both of them were quarantined. The Linkletter clan spent many summers visiting relatives on Prince Edward Island. They spent most of their time in the tiny, picturesque village which bore the Linkletter name. Here the family would fish, walk the beaches, pick berries and hear tales of their father's mischievous antics as a young boy and while he was in seminary. Ethel graduated from Roosevelt High School in Cedar Rapids in 1943 and followed in her brothers' footsteps and went to the University of Iowa. Her favorite classes were archery and canoeing, but she felt that a degree in social work would offer her more opportunities. Ethel earned her BA in social work in 1947 and started working on her Master's in psychiatric social work when her family moved to Des Moines, where she followed and started to work. It was in Des Moines that a handsome young man asked her if she would like to go to a baseball game with him and she accepted. However upon arrival at the ball park, the handsome young man headed to the locker room to suit up and play ball. And from that moment on, Ethel became Don Howig's life long fan, partner in sports and faithful, caring and devoted wife. Ethel and Don were united in marriage on Christmas Eve in Winterset, Iowa in 1950. Don was home on leave from the Army and they were married in the church parsonage. They were stationed at Ft. Belvoir, near Washington DC, where in March 1952, their first child, Deborah was born. Following the end of the Korean War, Ethel, Don and Debby returned to Des Moines, where Don worked as an engineer at Des Moines Steel. In January 1955, their second child, JoAnne was born. Soon after this, Ethel, Don and the girls moved to Grinnell, where Don began his long career with Miracle Recreation Company. And in March 1960, their son, Robert Montague was born. It was in Grinnell, in that beautiful little town, where Ethel became our amazing Mom and dear friend to all. Many knew her a natural athlete, who played golf and tennis. She also enjoyed hours of bridge (and laughter) with her friends. She was a member of Drummond Club and Beta Sigma Phi and was the first female to serve on the Grinnell Country Club board. She and Don were lifelong members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Ethel was a Sunday school teacher, served on the Bishop's Committee and altar guild and baked thousands of birthday cakes for Grinnell College students. Her one steadfast wish was that the family would sit in the back pew at church because growing up a PK, her family always had to sit up front and behave! Ethel and Don loved to travel with friends and family to Canada, England, Bella Vista, Lanesboro, Rockport, the Black Hills…but for Mom, there was no place like home. The Howig's home was on Tenth Avenue, where she had an ever growing garden full of tomatoes, potatoes, zukes, lettuce-a bountiful harvest of veggies. She would hit fungo baseballs to Bob in the back yard and coffee with her neighbors. When the weather turned cold, she taught her children how to ice skate and took them sledding. She would bake homemade bread and we learned how to make her famous fudge, toffee and peanut brittle at Christmas time. If ever there was a theme song for Ethel, it would be "Make Them Laugh". Whether it was on the golf course, tennis court, playing bridge or knitting with dear friends, she would make you laugh. So many friends have shared your "Ethelisms" with us recently. How blessed we all are to have this be her legacy to us. Yes, some will know her by the sweaters she knit or the peanut brittle she gave you, but we all will cherish most dearly her smile, her laughter, her beautiful snow white hair and her humor-her Ethelisms. Ethel is survived by her daughters; Debby (Paul) Pohlson of Grinnell and Jody (Randy) Kelley of Marion and her son, Bob (Linda) Howig of Sunnyvale, Texas. Ethel was blessed with five grandchildren; Sarah (Dustin) Smith of Grinnell, Scott (Amy) Pohlson of Vermillion, South Dakoa, Meghan Kelley of Marion, Tiffany and Daylan Howig of Sunnyvale; four great grandchildren, Alex and Josie Smith, Olivia and Will Pohlson; and her sisters-in-law, Marlyss Howig Kuenzel and Jan Otterman Linkletter. Ethel was preceded in death by her husband, Donald, her parents and her brothers.