Salli M. Howe

Salli Marie Howe of Wausau passed away on Sunday, April 19, 2015, a few days after her 65th birthday and less than 9 months after her diagnosis with aggressive glioblastoma. Salli is survived by Charles Howe, her loving husband of 48 years, by her daughter Kristine (Sam) Koppela of Wausau, her son Charles (Heidi) Howe of Rochester, MN, Kristine's sons Jonathan and Jaxson, and by her sister Alice (Jerry) Bohnert of Tomahawk and her brother Jim (Lynn) Phillips of Marathon. Salli was a life-long resident of Wausau, born on 11 April 1950 to Florence and John Phillips, who preceded her in death. After struggling through a childhood of poverty, Salli married her sweetheart Charles (Chuck) Howe on 21 May 1966. As a young woman Salli raised her son (born 1968) and her daughter (born 1971) and began working outside the home in the mid-70s. She was always a fighter, overcoming the odds of a truncated formal education to work her way up from secretary at an insurance agency to salesperson at a typewriter and photocopier business to an expert in the hardware and software of the nascent word processing marketplace. Without the benefit of college, Salli taught herself how to use and repair and maintain computers, software, databases, and networks, and her last 15 years of employment were spent overseeing the information technology needs of a large law firm. Salli was tireless in her life and her work. Despite suffering from debilitating migraines and chronic head, neck, and back pain precipitated by a horrific car accident in 1980, Salli ran her household, worked long days that included considerable travel, and still found time to be heavily invested in the lives of her grandchildren, including many years as an exuberant "hockey grandmother" and team manager for the Warjacks youth hockey team. Up until the last that she was able, Salli was a devoted and passionate employee of Anderson O'Brien Law Firm in Stevens Point. She routinely spent nights and weekends ensuring that the information technology needs of her office were met and she was committed to always staying on top of the latest software and technology. Salli overcame many obstacles in her life but was also dedicated to helping others overcome their own stumbling blocks. Based on her experience growing up with parents who were legally deaf and blind, Salli spent many years advancing the cause of access and support for people with disabilities and she built and led a religious ministry that traveled widely through the Midwest in the 1980s spreading a message of inclusion, tolerance, and understanding for people with physical differences. A lifelong believer, Salli had also recently reaffirmed her faith and she died in the full grace of God under the blessing of Father Burkhardt at the Church of St. Anne. Finally, in lieu of flowers the family asks that memorials be sent to the Church of St Anne in support of memorial mass or that donations be sent to the American Cancer Society in Salli's name to support research. We will miss our wife, sister, mother, and grandmother, but as long as her name echoes in our minds and on our lips her memory will live on. A Memorial Mass will be held at 1:00 p.m. Friday, April 24, 2015 at The Church of St. Anne, Wausau. The Rev. Alan Burkhardt will preside. Friends may call on Friday from 11:00 a.m. until the time of services all at the church. Peterson/Kraemer Funeral Home, 1302 Sixth Street, Wausau is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be expressed at www.petersonkraemer.com