Noel ‘Hal’ Fletcher

LIVE OAK — Noel Halbert “Hal” Fletcher, who helped the W.B. Howland Company grow and expand, passed away July 4.

He was 90.

Fletcher, born in McAlpin, was a Suwannee High School graduate and served in the Korean War.

The second child of Jeremiah Fletcher’s third wife, Eula Terry Fletcher (his previous two wives had passed away, Hal Fletcher had been running the family’s meat processing store in McAlpin before heading to Korea.

The self-described “country boy” always recalled the first letter he received while stationed overseas — he had never previously been out of Suwannee County, his son Lyn said.

“He said, ‘I was one homesick country boy. I was so homesick and I finally get a letter from home. I just wanted to smell it and I open it up and I was cherishing every word,’” Lyn Fletcher said. “It read, ‘Hal, I hope you’re doing well. Everybody here is fine … However, we’re sorry to tell you that your store burned and there was no insurance.’

“He said, ‘You talk about a defeated young man. You talk about a homesick boy, a country boy.’ He said, ‘I had never been so blue.’”

Things turned around for Fletcher once he returned home after serving in Korea.

After marrying Mary Elizabeth Howland in the early 1950s, Fletcher joined his father-in-law W.B. Howland’s business in 1955.

Hal and Mary Elizabeth lived in the back of the store during his early days with the company.

The couple then built a new house beside the store after their son Hal Jr. was born.

Two years later, Billy C. Howland joined the business and the company continued to evolve.

Originally a general mercantile shop that sold groceries and dry goods, under W.B. Howland’s guidance, the store also began stocking fence wire, posts, hardware and paints.

The original small wooden store was continuously added on into a large wooden store.

In 1975, Fletcher and Billy Howland built the new building that still operates today.

Even after semi-retiring and then fully retiring and turning the company over to Lyn Fletcher and Bill Howland, Fletcher continued to make frequent visits to the store, Lyn said.

Hal and Mary Elizabeth had five children: Terry, Tan, Hal Jr., Kim and Lyn. They had nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Also a lifelong investor in real estate, Fletcher also was a Sunday School teacher that loved to study the Bible. He was also an avid Florida Gators fan.

“Anyone who had the pleasure of meeting him knew he was a very generous and giving person,” Lyn Fletcher said.

Services were held Saturday at First Baptist Church.