Wife of late Alderman Lynn Howell accepts appointment to serve on Maurice Board

MAURICE — Exactly one week after the untimely death of Village of Maurice Alderman Lynn Howell, his wife found strength to answer a question in regard to his replacement.
“I want to do it,” Sherry Howell said.
Lynn Howell died unexpectedly on Jan. 11. He was 55.
Sherry Howell agreed during Wednesday’s Board of Aldermen meeting, the first since her husband’s passing, to accept the board’s request to serve in her late husband’s seat.
Alderwoman Phyllis Johnson and Alderman Kenneth “Keno” Picard voted unanimously to
extend the invitation to Sherry Howell to join them on the three-person board.
“It’s tough being up here without him,” Johnson told Sherry Howell. “I ask if you would kindly accept the position of alderman.”
Howell agreed, receiving an applause from those in attendance. She had already received words of support from multiple Maurice officials, including Mayor Wayne Theriot and Attorney Scott Dartez.
In the time leading up to Wednesday’s meeting, Theriot spoke to Sherry Howell about the possibility of serving, a common courtesy extended to the spouse of council and board members who die during a term. He had not received an indication of her intentions going into the meeting.
“I am extremely pleased,” Theriot said of Howell accepting. “I look forward to working with her. She is going to do a wonderful job continuing to build on what her husband started with the village.”
Howell will be officially sworn in prior to the next general board meeting, scheduled for Feb. 15. She will serve until a special election is held in October. Qualifying for that election begins July 12. A special election is necessary because more than six months remain on Lynn Howell’s four-year term, which began on Jan. 4, 2015.
“I am humbled to accept the alderman position previously held by my husband,” Sherry Howell said. “After being a resident of the Village of Maurice for 29 years, the love and support from our neighbors, friends and family has given me strength to be a voice for this great community. God bless, and thank you for this honor.
“Lynn and I worked as a team and I know that he will be by my side, helping to guide me to make the right decisions for the community.”
Sherry Howell said she had no idea that she would decide to accept the position during Wednesday’s meeting. She attended to simply assess her feelings.
“I didn’t think that it would come as quickly as it did,” Sherry Howell said. “I was really going there to just sit and see how I felt with Lynn being gone. I felt Lynn’s presence and I think he gave me the strength to accept.
“It is something that he worked really hard on. If it is one thing that I can do for him and for the community, in his honor, then I want to do it.”