Thea Maria Howard

Thea M. Howard, age 78, of Dallas, Texas, passed away peacefully in the early hours of Monday, May 20, 2019, at a Plano nursing home while in Hospice care. She was born on December 6, 1940, in Tegernsee Kreis Miesbach, Bavaria Germany, to parents Josef and Maria Betzinger.

Thea graduated college and married Jack Howard in Kaiserslautern while he was in the US Air Force based in Germany and relocated to the United States to start a family. She owned Bent Tree Custom decorating and was a certified decorator, CSID, after moving from Pennsylvania in 1986. She earned her Realtors license and was actively involved with Prestonwood Baptist Church choir and bible study. Thea truly had a passion for decorating and travel along with her love for her family and Dallas living.

She was preceded in death by her sister, Anneliese and grandson, Matthew.

Thea is survived by her sister, Elfriede Gassner and her daughter Helga; sister, Anneliese’s children, Brigitte, Alexander and Andreas; brother, Franz Betzinger and his children, Lisa, Franz and Maria; sons, John Howard and his wife Jane of Todd, North Carolina, and Christian Howard of Dallas, Texas; daughter, Janine Howard of Houston, Texas; grandchildren, Michael and Christopher and brother-in-law James Hudson of Hicksville, New York.

A Funeral Service will be held at 10:00 am on Thursday, May 23, 2019 at Prestonwood Baptist Church, 6801 West Park Boulevard Plano, Texas with a Viewing for friends beginning at 9:15 am.  There will be a Graveside service afterward at Restland Memorial Park, 9220 Restland Road Dallas, Texas followed by a reception at the family home.

If it is your wish, the family suggests donations, in Thea’s name, to Prestonwood Baptist Church.