J. Edward Howell Jr.

I am a native of Southampton County,Virginia-Iwas born during the Great Depression on June 4th, 1934-.-A 1951 graduate of Franklin Public School system-. Graduated 5th in a class of 42-..Attended V.M.I. and V.P.I.- Farmed for 30 years in partnership with brother-in-law,Hunter Darden, Jr.-Opened a Massey-Ferguson farm equipment dealership-began and operated an aerial crop spraying operation--Retired from farming in 1984-Became a Real Estate Broker in 1985-Graduated from Commercial and Industrial Real Estate Institute in 1993-As an independent contractor I worked with several telecommunication companies as a Site Acquisition Specialist, securing and permitting cell tower sites-I worked for Verizon,PrimeCo,Ntelos, Crowncastle,SpetraSite,Nextel, and others-Served 13 years in the Virginia National Guard-Graduated from the first Virginia National Guard Officer Candidate School in 1959-Graduated from the United States Air Defense School in Fort Bliss,Texas in 1965-Honorably discharged,at my request, in 1966-I am a 67 year veteran 32 degree Mason, Scottish Rite and Shriner-I hold a commercial pilots license with instrument rating-I enjoyed flying Tidewater area burned and crippled children to their appointments at the Shriner's hospitals in Greenville, South Carolina and Cincinnatti, Ohio-I am married to a North Carolina lady,Martha Hardee Howell(63 years)-we have three boys and one girl. 8 grandchildren-four great-grandchildren-I am a Christian and a Baptist-I am 88 years old and still active and enjoy writing-I have published four books and working on my fifth-I concentrate now on writing articles pertaining to current events and matters of faith. I will be 89 on June 4th, 2023.