Walla Walla, WA - Grace P. Howland, age 95, passed away peacefully on December 7, 2025, at Wheatland Village. Born in New York State, and growing up in the Boston area, Grace earned a bachelor's degree from Denison University (Ohio), and a masters in education from Harvard University. She taught fourth grade in Massachusetts from 1954-57. She married Phil Howland in 1956. In 1957, they moved to Hanover, N.H., where Phil would begin a long career as a physics professor and they would grow their family. They had five children.

The family's move to Walla Walla in 1965 was an adventurous, life-changing choice far outside their East coast roots. They came to love the Walla Walla Valley and the Pacific Northwest, and they became integral members of the Whitman College faculty community. Together they were enthusiastic explorers, with deep interests in nature, hiking, and travel, especially across the American West but also numerous continental U.S. road trips and other adventures. Grace was active with the First Congregational Church, and her educational background led to volunteer work with the church, children's organizations, and more.

As a friend, sister, wife, mother, educator, volunteer, daughter, and in other roles, she was the embodiment of her name -- calm, supportive, warm, unselfish, thoughtful, kind, and willing to help. Grace was also inquisitive about the world, a trait she inherited from her parents. She encouraged this interest, as evidenced by her far-flung children and grandchildren, as well as her siblings and their children, in a family that now spans the country from Alaska and Maine, as well as abroad (Sweden, Brazil, and more).

Family was central to her life. She was a master at correspondence, an author of thousands of rich, near-weekly letters to family reporting on adventures, her garden (another passion), local goings-on, news from other family members, and much more. She was also the family historian, producing detailed accounts of several branches of family history through in-depth, pre-internet archival work.

For the past five years, she has enjoyed living in the Wheatland Village community. In her last months, she treasured a visit from her two sisters, spending extended time with her children, visits from grandchildren, and news of a first great grandchild's arrival in the coming weeks. Survivors include her sisters, Carolyn and Peggy, and her children, Susan, David Julia, John, and Stephen, along with their spouses, and seven grandchildren. She will be deeply missed!