Cecile Howell Stemple

Cecile will be remembered as a kind and loving woman who left her mark on everybody she met. Her giving heart and colorful stories of past adventures and happenings were something anyone who talked to her will cherish and remember. She was everybody’s “Nanny” as long as you treated her children the way she expected them to be treated. Cecile Laverne Beauchamp Howell Stemple, 81, of Cross City, FL, passed away at Haven Hospice in Chiefland, FL on December 12, 2025. Cecile was born on December 4, 1944 to her parents, Vernie and Cecil Beauchamp, in Gainesville, FL. Most of her childhood was spent being raised on the grounds of The Suwannee Gables Motel in Old Town, FL where her father was the manager of the hotel and her mother cooked at the hotel’s restaurant. She and her older brother Maxie would bring ice to the rooms and helped make beds in hopes of a quarter tip. Her older sister Lula Mae played the mommy roll to Cecile, as she was the baby of the bunch, when they were young, and later in life became her best friend. Cecile attended Old Town Elementary School and was a proud Dixie County High School Bear. She met her first love, “Buddy” Wilton Delano Howell, when she was 15 years old as he filled up the tank on their family car. They were married on March 5, 1961. They had two beautiful children, Cheryl Denise Howell and Lyndell Delano Howell, who they raised in Dixie County on the old Suwannee Lumber Road in the area once known as Shamrock. She worked for the Dixie District School system for 34 years. Her primary role was as the certification specialist at Instructional services where you were always greeted with a smile and would leave with some candy from her candy dish. Cecile loved her children, her work, thrift store shopping, the Gators and the Bears, but her most treasured role in life was that of Nanny. Her oldest child, Cheryl, was blessed with two children through adoption, Kristen and Korde. Her youngest, Lyndell, had two handsome young men, Buddy and Dell, with his wife Tonya. Cecile’s life was full of love, but not without tragedy. She lost Buddy in an accident at work in 1988. This led to grief and difficulty understanding God’s plan until she met her second love, Edward Otto Stemple. Ed had children from a previous marriage, but Cecile’s love knew no boundaries, and she loved them like her own. Their entire crew consisted of 6 children, 20 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren. Cecile will always be remembered for her endless capacity for love, fiery spirit, intricate storytelling, and her love of her family. We couldn’t have asked for a better center puzzle piece for our family and will miss her every day. Her memory will live on forever in the hearts of those who loved her. “Lord bless us and bind us, tie our shirttails behind us, and throw us behind a log where the devil can’t find us, Amen, Praise the Lord!” Cecile was preceded in death by her grandparents, parents, her first husband, Buddy Howell, her grandson, “Korde” Wilton David Osteen, her sister Lula Mae Wilson, her second husband, Edward Stemple, her brother Maxie Beauchamp, her son-in-law, Frank Bussard, and her son, Michael Walter Stemple. Cecile is survived by her daughter, Cheryl Howell, her son Lyndell (Tonya) Howell, her daughter Becky (Ross) Rayborn, her son Jeff (Tammy) Stemple, her son Kenny Stemple, her daughter-in-law, Krishna Stemple, and her 20 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 3:00 PM on Thursday, December 18, 2025 at the Rick Gooding Funeral Home Cross City Chapel. Burial will follow at the Cross City Cemetery. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Arrangements have been placed under the care of Rick Gooding Funeral Home Cross City Chapel, with locations in Cross City 352-498-5400 and Chiefland 352-493-0050. Please sign the online guest book at rickgoodingfuneralhomes.com

Cecile Howell Stemple

December 4, 1944 - December 12, 2025