Howard Earl Wine

Howard Wine of Kingsport, TN died Sunday at the age of 101. 

Howard grew up in Indian Springs just outside of Kingsport and was a life-long member of the Church of the Brethren. He graduated from Blountville HS, Class of 1940. After graduation he began working with his father, a carpenter in Kingsport. He then worked briefly for the Eastman Corporation. 

As a Conscientious Objector during WWII, he served in the Civilian Public Service program in several capacities including as an attendant in the violent ward at Western State Mental Hospital in Marion, VA and working on the Blue Ridge Parkway. After the war he traveled as a cattleman on a ship delivering cattle for starving Poland.

When Howard returned to Kingsport, he and his brother, Frank Jr. went into business together building houses. He met Evelyn Baker, the love of his life, and they married Christmas Day, 1947. They remained devoted to each other until her death in 2012. The couple and their one-year-old daughter, Donna, moved to Central Florida in 1950. Their second daughter, Phyllis, was born in Orlando two years later.

In Florida, Howard was self-employed, first building houses, then owning and operating a service station.

After their daughters were grown and gone from home, Howard and Evelyn moved to Virginia for a couple of years, then purchased and ran a motel, laundromat, service station & gift shop combination in Chimney Rock, NC for a brief time. In 1978 they moved back to Florida. In 1994 the couple returned to Kingsport.

From a very young age, Howard appreciated and loved cars and owned a total of 98 of them in the space of his lifetime. He enjoyed hiking and in 1981, joined his older brother, Lowell in hiking peaks in excess of 10,000 feet in New Mexico and Colorado. In his later years, he was a regular walker at the Kingsport Mall and, until the last year+ of his life, he walked a minimum of two miles daily.

Howard is survived by his two daughters: Donna Forbes (David) and Phyllis Wine; his younger brother, Joe Wine of Nampa, Idaho; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his beloved wife, Evelyn; his parents, Frank & Mary Wine; two older brothers, Lowell and Frank, Jr.; and an older sister, Phyllis Smith.

Donna and Phyllis wish to thank the staff personnel at both Wexford House and NHC Kingsport for the loving care provided to Howard for the final 2 1/2 months of his life.

Howard's ashes will be scattered where his wife's were. The ceremony will be private.

An online guest register is available for the Wine family at www.gatecityfunerals.com. 

Gate City Funeral Home is honored to be serving the family of Howard Wine.