Obie Howard Sr. was a hard-working man who loved his family as dearly as he loved his church.

As a young man, he had a farm in south Bibb County, which he tended diligently. He was a sharecropper.

“I remember whenever mother was sick,” said his son Obie Jr., “he would always cook and feed his children, even though he worked long hours in the fields.”

Because he worked so much, he had little time for leisure activities. During his younger years, he hunted game.

Obie was born on June 30, 1900, and was raised by his father Green Howard and stepmother Cheney. His mother died when he was young, and he was the youngest of her children. His brothers and sisters left home while he was still young.

“I remember him saying how he missed not having his birth mother with him,” said Obie Jr. “She died when he was too young to remember her. His stepmother was a good woman and he thought a lot of her.

“He was very close to his father and stayed with him until he was 25, before he got married.” In the 1920 Census, he is listed as a single 19-year-old living in his father’s household. 

Obie met his wife Amy Wilson while attending Mount Zion Baptist Church, the family church he joined when he was a child. They were married on Oct. 11, 1925, and had nine children, eight of whom were still living in 1988.

There were four sons, Obie Jr., Cecil, Ernest and Edward; and four daughters, Corine, Hattie, Lila and Frances. Another son, Albert, suffered a stroke and died Feb. 28, 1979, in Atlanta, GA. 

According to the 1930 Census, Obie and Amy lived in Detroit with their children Corine and Obie Jr. He worked as a warehouse helper. His father Green was also living in Detroit at the time, staying for periods at a time with his own children.

Guss’ daughter Jeannette believed Obie left because he didn’t like the cold winters.

Green “was crazy about my daddy,” remembers Obie’s daughter Corine. “That’s his baby.” 

In the 1940 Census, Obie and Any were back in Georgia, living in Rutland where he was a farmer. The family lived in Bibb County until they moved to Macon in 1952. There, Obie got a job as a construction worker.

Obie was a devout man, and he raised his children in the church. “He didn’t have a car when some of us were growing up,” Obie Jr. said, “but he did get us to church as much as possible. I remember how patient he was teaching us The Lord’s Prayer and reading the Bible to us.”

He was a treasurer at Mount Zion and also a member of the Deacon Board. He was a member of the Good Samaritan Society, and was its vice president until his health began to fail. He was also a member of the Rising Star Society.

Besides taking care of his wife and children, he was always there for other members of his family. He made sure he kept in touch with them.

“With looking after his family and his duty as a church worker, he was a very contented man,” said his daughter Frances.

Obie died of a heart attack on Oct. 5, 1982, at the age of 82.

Obie and his sister Irene at the 1981 family reunion in Macon, GA.