Howard Garrison, age 90, of Heath, passed away Thursday, September 4, 2025, at Licking Memorial Hospital with his children by his side. He was born in Mt Vernon IL on January 29, 1935, to the late Burrell and Virginia (Mobley) Garrison. He graduated from Mt Vernon Township High School, Mt Vernon, IL, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL & received his Master of Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, TX.

Howard became a Christian and was baptized at a young age and has been a faithful child of God and student of the Bible for most of his life.  He faithfully served, along with his wife, for more than 50 years as Music and Education pastor at churches in Texas, Illinois, and Ohio.  After "retiring" from full time ministry he continued to serve part time as well as began working transporting foster children to their visits with their parents.

Howard's most cherished priority was his personal relationship with Jesus Christ, his Savior. He had a deep desire for others to experience that same relationship and took great joy in sharing the message of Jesus. His heart was devoted to reaching people with the gospel, and nothing thrilled him more than seeing lives transformed through salvation. One of his favorite verses was Romans 1:16 - "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek."

Howard is survived by his children, David Garrison, and Leah (Philip) Mollohan; and grandchildren, Rachel (Micah) Watson, Joel, Luke, and Seth Mollohan.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by Nancy (Braginton), his loving and devoted wife of 61 years, and his siblings: Marian (Leo) Schnarr, Helen (Eugene) Knight, Shirley (Marvin) Schloeman, Paul Wendell (Margaret, Mary) Garrison.

Visitation will be held from 1-3 pm Saturday, September 13, 2025, at Brucker and Kishler Funeral Home 985 N. 21St, Newark OH 43055. A funeral service will follow at 3 pm, Pastor Tim Sowards officiating.  Interment will be at Newark Memorial Gardens.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Crossroads Baptist Church 255 S. 6th St, Newark, Ohio 43055.