Shelly Howard remembered...

Paul,Family & Friends,

May God's love heal your sorrow, May the prayer's of friends ease your grief, May God's peace replace your heartache with warm and loving memories. Though the voice is quiet, the spirit echoes always..

May these few words express sincere sympathy to you and your family.

Mike and Sheila Kopchick
Rage Racing Engines

 

We, the European Top Alcohol Racers, are shocked and very sad to hear of the deaths of two members of our Top Alcohol family, Shelly Howard and her son Brian.

We would like to express our deeply felt sympathy for their family and friends.

Gittli Koller
Peter Schoefer Racing

on behalf of the ETMRA
(European Top Methanol Racers Association)

 

I met shelly at the noble oklahoma race last year and thought she was of the most aproachable and kind person in the history of racing. godspeed shelly
jam

[ April 07, 2005, 12:05 PM: Message edited by: Will Hanna ]

 

I was never lucky enough to meet Shelly and her family as many of you have been blessed to do.
I only knew of her through the media, but she seems to have touched many lives on and of the track.

I found out only tonight of her accident. My heart is saddened by the news, and would like to offer our family's deepest sympothies to her husband and children.

God bless you Shelly and Brian.

-Mike
-Cindi
-Andy
-Brittany & Justin Brown

 

Though I did not know Shelly, I knew her son Brian. Brian was a wonderful, sweet man who idolized his mother. He was so proud of her. Brian always talked about his mom and how she was "the fastest woman in America". From what I hear, they always had this very special relationship, and I'm not sure that one could've lived without the other... I know we are all searching for a reason for such an awful tragedy, but I take some comfort in knowing they walked together through those gates hand in hand.

I will miss Brian terribly, and I know his family already does. They are constantly in my prayers. God Bless all of you who are mourning right now...

 

Hello all,

I've been reading all the posts from the racing community and my heart breaks for all of you. I am very fortunate to know Shelly and Brian, but from a different perspective than most.

Shelly hired me a little over a year ago to help her with the gardens around her house. We quickly became friends and I spent most of my summer last year on her property. I love being out there - it is so peaceful. Many times Shelly would sit next to the fish pond, feeding the koi, while I worked and we would have one of our heart-to-hearts. She was to me, like to many of you, a mother when I needed one the most. She loved dragonflies, butterflies and the like, and she stressed over having to "smush" rolly-polie bugs so they wouldn't eat the moss off her decorative rocks. Shelly wanted to nurture anything with breath.

I also happen to be a racing fan, so my family and I attended different races that Shelly was in. Always, we had a place to go if she was at the track.

My family and I were at the Tulsa track last Saturday, and got to see Shelly, a HUGE blessing from God. Although I had talked with Shelly in the past six weeks on the phone, I had not seen her because I was recovering from surgery. I had worked at her house the Thursday before the accident, but had not seen her. I did see some of her crew and Paul, and they were preparing for a trip down to Houston for the weekend, to test the new car.

We made an impromtu trip out to the Tulsa track on Saturday to see some other friends' kids race their Jr. Dragsters and were very surprised to see Shelly's trailer out there. We watched her first two passes, one in which she wheelied off the starting line and another in which she had bad tireshake and had to shut it down. I asked her after the wheelie if it scared her at all, and in perfect Shelly fashion, she quickly replied,"There's no time to be scared." My kids ran amuck around the car and trailer, talking with Shelly, Brian and her grandson. Shelly kept trying to feed my middle daughter baby carrots, teasing her all the while. Brian spent some time with my oldest, also named Bryan. They both thought it was funny that they shared the same name. I share these precious last experiences with you to hopefully ease the pain and give you some insight to the mood and fun of the evening.

The last time I talked to Shelly, they were preparing the car for another run, it was getting late and we had to get the kids home and in bed. I had two blessings that night. One, getting to have one last moment in time with my friend, and the other, NOT witnessing the tragedy of her final run. Shelly and Brian are both Christians, so I am not at all unsure of their whereabouts. I am only in grief because I miss my friend but am comforted to know what a wonderful blessing she was to so many.

As Larry Smiley said at Shelly and Brian's funeral, Saturday was an awful day for all of us, but it was the greatest day for Shelly and Brian. They were set free, together. And Shelly wouldn't have it any other way.

Blessings and comfort to all of you-

 

Shelly and Brian Howard were my cousins.....and I loved them dearly....

I am overwhelmed by the postings on this memorial page...I live in Denver and was blessed to have Shelly and Paul and their crews out to race in Denver every year. My husband and I and our 3 boys would always go out to the track every day they were here and help in anyway we could...Of course Shelly would never have told us if we were in the way...Which I am sure we sometimes were....Shelly and I would talk for hours between races about life, love, and family..many times I can remember Shelly talking about different people in her race family and how she loved racing and being part of the racing family. It was what she loved to do and the excitement never wore off I saw it after every race she ran....

Shelly and Paul would say I was their good luck charm when they raced here in Denver...Shelly won the Mile High Nationals here 2 times and I was lucky one because I got to spend the whole weekend with them...We worked on the car visited and I always felt privileged to have them let me tow the car down to the start line and drive the crew up to the finish line after a win...My family visited Shelly, Paul, Brian, and the girls in Tulsa and I got to spend some time with Brian he was a wonderful person with a heart like his mothers. And every life he touched had special meaning...

The last time I saw Shelly was here in Denver when she won the race and asked me, my husband, and our son to be in crew winning photos as she always did....(that picture is posted below a few memorials down since I was in the picture I never saw it but now I have it.)...The last time I spoke to Shelly on the phone we talked about a family reunion and a visit to Tulsa since they would not be racing here this year...and of course how we missed each other and that we loved each other...I will be forever saddened by the loss of my cousins and the friendship we had made over the years..The memories I have of the visits in Florida, Hawaii, Tulsa, and Denver and the friendship I will carry with me always....Shelly's love for life and her family are an example for all of us...Shelly and Brian will live in my heart until the day we meet again...

I love and miss you.......
Suzanne (Suz), Jason, Ryan, Alec, Noah