Thursday, Jan. 10, 2002 | 8:46 a.m.
Myrtle Howery often was called "my angel in a family of outlaws." by her mother, Southern Nevada pioneer Marion Paris Lamb.
Those "outlaws" included Howery's brothers -- former State Sen. Floyd Lamb, former Clark County Commissioner Darwin Lamb and former Sheriff Ralph Lamb.
"She was called an angel because Myrtle was the one in the family who took care of everyone's needs," said longtime friend Jan Smith, widow of Harold's Club founder and Northern Nevada gaming legend Harold Smith. "Marion called her sons outlaws because they were a rollicking bunch.
"Myrtle was involved in any charity that helped children. She created Americana style art. She was an unbelievable cook. And she was always there to help her family members when they ran for office. Myrtle typified goodness -- a trusting, noble woman who expected the best in her fellow man."
Myrtle Lamb Howery, widow of one-term Las Vegas City Commissioner Wes Howery and one-time owner of a house interior decorating business, died Monday of cancer at a local rest home. She was 76.
Services for the lifelong Southern Nevadan will be 1 p.m. Friday at Palm Mortuary-Cheyenne. A graveside service will follow at Memory Gardens Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. today at the mortuary at 7400 W. Cheyenne Ave.
"My mother was incapable of dishonesty, and she never engaged in gossip or any other such games," said Michael Howery, a Salt Lake City attorney and poet. "She had an incredible wit to the end."
The day before Howery died she displayed that homespun wit. After Smith complimented her on the "roses in her cheeks," Myrtle Howery replied, "Grew them myself."
Born Myrtle Lamb July 16, 1925, in Alamo, she was the seventh of 11 children of cowboy William "Billy" Grainger Lamb and the former Marion Paris. On July 4, 1939, Myrtle's father was killed while rescuing a 7-year-old boy from a runaway horse at an Alamo rodeo. The next year, Myrtle, then 15, graduated from Pahranagat Valley High School.
She moved to Las Vegas and took a job at the downtown post office. At 17, she married Howery, who in 1967 was elected to the Las Vegas City Commission, now the City Council. He served until 1971.
"She pushed him to many of his accomplishments -- she definitely was a driving force behind his success," Smith said
Howery, a casino executive when he held office, championed causes that included increasing local tourism, establishing a city-run drug rehabilitation center, developing Lorenzi Park and revamping the city's police force to allow two officers per patrol car instead of one. He also served as chairman of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. He died Oct. 10, 1986.
Tall and willowy, Myrtle was well known as a charming party host. She always dressed in the latest fashions, with tastefully matching accessories. She also was a gourmet cook, whose dishes ranged from homemade ranch house biscuits and gravy to French delicacies.
The extent of Myrtle's charity work was vast, but relatively unknown. Myrtle's daughter Patti Huff, a sales manager at the Riviera hotel, said she recalled as a child delivering food, money and clothing to people in need.
"I'd ring the doorbell, put the gifts on the doorstep then run back to the car that Mom would drive away quickly, so people never knew who left them," Huff said. "She always said that true charity is done anonymously."
In the 1980s Myrtle was cofounder of "Individually Yours," an interior decorating business that she operated for several years. Howery also created American folk art. Among her works was "Myrtle Mouse," an elaborately stitched broom cover in the shape of a large rodent.
Howery recently underwent cancer surgery in California and returned to Las Vegas just after Christmas. She was undergoing therapy at a facility near her northwest Las Vegas home at the time of her death.
In addition to her two children, Howery is survived by two sisters, Wanda Peccole and Erma McIntosh, both of Las Vegas; four brothers, Floyd Lamb of Alamo, Darwin Lamb of Cedar City, Utah, and Ralph Lamb and Larry Lamb, both of Las Vegas; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by three brothers, William, Phillip and Sheldon Lamb, and a sister, Faye Mason.
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