 1924 - 2018 (94 years)
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| Name |
Elizabeth Howell [4] |
| Suffix |
"Betty" |
| Birth |
27 Mar 1924 |
Durham, NC  [4, 5, 6] |
| Gender |
Female |
| Graduated |
1942 |
Atlanta, Cobb Co., Georgia [6] |
| Washington Seminary (now Westminster Schools) |
| Graduated |
1946 |
Decatur, DeKalb, GA [6] |
| Agnes Scott College |
| Military Service |
1952-1954 |
Tokyo, Osaka, Taegu |
| Korean War - Army Hospitals nurse |
| School |
Editor Emery University student newspaper |
| FindAGrave URL |
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/212695034 |
| FindAGrave ID |
212695034 |
| FamilySearch ID |
LTJF-23V |
| FamilySearch URL |
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LTJF-23V |
| Death |
23 Jun 2018 |
Gray, Georgia [7, 8] |
| Burial |
White Plains Baptist Church Cemetery, White Plains, Greene Co., GA |
| Person ID |
I1193 |
Main |
| Last Modified |
6 Sep 2020 |
| Father |
Edward Lathrop "Gus" Howell, b. 7 Nov 1884, White Plains, Greene County, GA d. 18 Apr 1968 (Age 83 years) |
| Mother |
Lillian F. Schalk, b. 1 Nov 1884, Bristol, CT d. 2 May 1924, Durham, NC (Age 39 years) |
| Marriage |
25 Apr 1915 |
Birmingham, AL |
| Family ID |
F366 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
Daniel Garfield Traver, b. 1 Mar 1931, Jamestown, Chautauqua County, New York, USA d. 15 Feb 2007, Greensboro, GA (Age 75 years) |
| Marriage |
1953 |
Kobe, Japan |
| Family ID |
F2228 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
5 Aug 2020 |
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| Documents |
 | John E. Howell to Helen C. Richardson 1942
John E. Howell writes to Helen C. Richardson in 1942 Air Mail letter from San Juan, PR thanking her for the visit to Atlanta and family reunion. Mentions Betty Howell Traver, William Richardson, fear of infantile paralysis (apparently epidemic in PR at the time.) Also see audio commentary by Spencer Howell. Source: Betty Howell Traver. |
 | Daniel Traver obituary
Daniel Traver obituary (likely from The Herald Journal, Greensboro, GA) Source: J. Spencer Howell |
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| Notes |
- Betty Howell Traver - Obituary
Betty Howell Traver, 94, of Gray, GA died June 23, 2018. She was born March 27, 1924 in Durham, NC, the daughter of Edward Lathrop Howell of White Plains, GA and Lillian (Emma) Schalk Howell of Bristol, Connecticut. Betty moved to 38 Peachtree Circle, Atlanta, GA at six weeks old following her mother's death in an automobile accident. She lived with her father's beloved sister, Mrs. G.A. Camp (Bertha Howell), who had two sons (Howell and Robert) and a daughter (Helen).
After completing high school in 1942 at Washington Seminary in Atlanta, which is now part of Westminster School, Betty attended Wesleyan College for two years. Following her time at Wesleyan, she continued her education at Emory University, even though during that time Emory did not award undergraduate degrees to women. In 1945, Betty was Emory's only co-ed undergraduate student and the first woman editor of The Emory Wheel. She transferred her credits and graduated with a degree in journalism from Agnes Scott College, having taken only two courses there.
After serving as an associate editor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and Dixie Contractor magazine, she joined the American Red Cross as a recreation worker during the Korean War. She was sent to the Far East in 1951. Over 33 months, she served in five U.S. Army hospitals in Okinawa, Osaka, Taegu (wartime Korea) and twice in Tokyo. In her free time, she traveled extensively in Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong.
In 1953, she met and married Army First Lt. Daniel Garfield Traver, originally from Frewsburg, New York, in Kobe, Japan. They had three separate ceremonies: one in the Army camp, another according to the local Japanese customs and one in a chapel stateside with family. They began married life in a Japanese house near Sapporo where Dan served as an Army ski trooper in the winter of 1953-54. In the years that followed, Dan's career as an Army pilot took them to Virginia, Georgia, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Missouri and Germany. In 1966 during the Vietnam War while her husband was stationed in Saigon serving on the staff of General Westmoreland, Betty made a six-week trip to the Orient. She and Dan visited Thailand and Hong Kong together and she made the trip to Cambodia by herself. Posing as her husband's girlfriend, she spent ten days in wartime Saigon with Dan during a time when Army wives were forbidden to visit.
After Dan retired as a Lt. Col., Betty and Dan moved to Greensboro, GA where they restored and resided in a house built in the mid 1800s at 102 West Street. Dan was a teacher in the Athens-Clarke County School System until 1992. Traveling was a lifelong interest for the Travers and they decorated their home with art and memorabilia from their trips to Albania, Austria, Canada, Egypt, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Jordan, Macao, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, and Turkey. In 1993, they missed a terrorist attack on their hotel in Cairo by only three hours. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2003 with a trip to Japan that allowed them to return to the sites of their first dates and wedding ceremonies. With her husband, Betty researched and wrote the weekly "Archives" column of Greene County history in the Herald-Journal from 1997-2002. She was also a member of the First United Methodist Church.
Following Dan's death in 2007, Betty moved to Stone Brooke Suites, a retirement community in Gray, GA, to be near her cousins, Jim and Carol Brittain, and their children and families. She was admired for her quick wit and knowledge of history and current events. She had many entertaining stories to share having lived in six states and three foreign countries and having visited 41 states and 22 foreign countries during her lifetime. She enjoyed working Sudoku puzzles and playing bridge. She was also fond of cats and Peanuts cartoon characters, especially Snoopy as the Red Barron.
She was cremated and is to be buried in the White Plains Cemetery. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on July 21, 2018 in the chapel of the Gray United Methodist Church, 117 Jefferson Street, Gray, GA 31032. Contributions may be made in Betty's memory to Gray United Methodist Church.
Vining Ivy Hill Chapel, 105 Lower Harmony Road, Eatonton, GA, (706) 485-4144, is in charge of arrangements.
Betty Howell Traver notes on the reverse of her photo:
"Betty Howell Traver was born 03/27/24 in Druham, N.C. where her father, Edw. L. Howell, was a silent-movie organist. (Her mother Lillian Schalk, born in Bristol, Conn., & Edw. L. Howell were married in the Birmingham City Hall in 1915.) Lillian S. Howell died in early May 1924 and Betty was given to E.L.H.'s oldest sister, Bertha Howell (Mrs. G. A.) Camp of 38 Peachtree Circle, Atlanta. E.L. Howell supported Betty until the talkies came in 1929-1930 and he lost his job. Then Helen Camp Richardson (Mrs. Camp's daughter) became Betty's mother. H. Camp and Wm. Richardson had no child; neither did Mrs. Camp other two children, Edw. Howell Camp and Robert Brooks Camp.
JSH notes:
"When Betty refers to her "Mom", she is talking about her aunt Helen Camp Richardson (1895 - 1962), who raised her, and who tragically died in an air accident in Paris, France while on tour with the Atlanta Art Association. Betty's birth mother, Lillian Schalk, died when Betty was 4 months old.
Betty graduated from Washington Seminary girls school (now part of The Westminster Schools) in Atlanta in 1942. She attended Emery University where she was editor of the school newspaper and one of the only women students on campus. She fulfilled the requirements to graduate from Emery but the school was not yet awarding diplomas to women --- so she graduated from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA in 1946. Betty served in the Korean War as a nurse (1952 - 54) and lived in Tokyo and Osaka Japan and Taegu Korea. She married Dan Traver in Japan while he was serving on the staff of General William Westmoreland, responsible for 2,000 plus aircraft. Dan is an Army pilot who "can fly anything from helicopters to fixed wing".
Wesleyan College Winter 2000 Newsletter notes:
"For three weeks in March, Greene County Historical Society columnists, Betty Howell Treaver '46 and husband Dan Visited historical sites in Italy. Touring the Greek ruins and WWII battle sites from Florence to the bottom of Sicily, and staying in a marble and gold leaf suite at the Excelsior, were highlights of their trip. Back home in Georgia they returned to writing their 100-50-20 year ago column for the local paper in Greensboro." [6, 9, 10]
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| Sources |
- [S2] John S. Howell, Jr., JSH Feb 13 2003 gedcom.
- [S24] Clopton Family Association, (The Clopton Family Association - http://www.cloptonfamily.org/amerline/, which was replaced by https://web.archive.org/web/20050508041539/http://www.cloptonfamily.org/amerline/pafg21.htm#2700).
- [SAuth] John Spencer Howell, Jr., John Spencer Howell, Jr., (http://www.jhowell.com/ jhowell@jhowell.com).
- [S1347] Lucy Lane Erwin, Clopton Ancestors by Lucy Lane Erwin, (c 1939), p. 212.
- [S1333] Elizabeth (Howell) Traver, Betty Howell Traver, "My mother died when I was 4" - Telephone 19 Mar 2006.
- [S1333] Elizabeth (Howell) Traver, Betty Howell Traver, from notes she wrote on reverse of her photo given to me March 2006.
- [S1753] Brandon Haase, email to JSH 25 Jun 2018.
- [S1736] Obituary, Vining Ivy Hill Chapel - website - https://www.viningivyhill.com/obituaries/obituary-listings?obId=3121744#/obituaryInfo.
- [S1332] Wesleyan College, Wesleyan Magazine, (4760 Forsyth Road, Macon, GA 31210-4462. www.wesleyancollege.edu), Volume XXX - Number 2 - Winter 2000 - pp. 24-25.
- [S1754] Vining Ivy Hill Chapel, Obituary - http://www.viningivyhill.com/obituaries/Betty-Traver?obId=3121744#/obituaryInfo.
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