Mrs. Coon died on December 17, 2025. She was born February 27, 1932, in Hartselle, Alabama. She was the youngest of two children born to Hubert Rexford Mitchell and Ola Tanner Mitchell.
A Graveside Service and Interment will be at Hartselle City Cemetery in a ceremony held on Sunday, December 28, 2025. A visitation will be held prior from 1:30 PM – 2:30PM.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Howard Mitchell, her first husband, Arthur George Howell, her second husband, Clarence Lee Coon, and a daughter, Cindy Coon and her parents, Hubert Rexford Mitchell (1907-1991) and Clarence Lee Coon (1924-2018).
Survivors include daughters- Lisa Baxter (Howard), Amy Bell (Ray), and son- Arthur George “Buzz” Howell III, daughters- Leslie Wier (Bo), Cissy Lakin (Terry), Mary Ellen Friedrich (Mark), son- Lee Coon (Judy). She also leaves Grandchildren-Whitney Kate Baxter Marvell – Christopher John Marvel, Seth Howell Baxter, Emily Lovrin Rice Baxter,Ansley Elizabeth Baxter Stauffer -Ryan Stauffer, Jackson Findlay Bell,
Spencer Beckett Bell, Elizabeth “Betsy” Howell, Evelyn Ann Howell, and Alix Grace Howell. Twenty-two great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
Elizabeth Ann “Mitch” Mitchell Mitch was an accomplished watercolor artist who has painted numerous portraits including notable politicians such as Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Dan Quail, Donald J. Trump, and Paul ‘Bear Bryant. She painted a portrait of the Space Shuttle Challenger astronauts. For a few years she even taught art in the public schools.
She grew up in Hartselle. As a child she traveled around the country with her father & mother in the trailer as they did stage equipment and curtain business. She actually began school in Minnesota but later attended school in Hartselle under the tutelage of `Fessor’ Burleson. In sixth grade, they sold war bonds and war stamps. The prize for selling the most was a trip to Montgomery to visit the Governor. Mitch needed a few more sales so ‘Fessor’ Burleson bought the rest of ’em so she could go on that trip.”
In seventh grade the bandmaster from Athens College came down to Hartselle on Tuesday nights each week to start a band. Mitch played clarinet for two years, tenor sax for two years, and drums for the last two. The director kept moving her because he needed a good musician on those instruments.
At the age of four Mitch began taking piano lessons from Miss Annie Ruth Waldsmith in Rosebud Cottage on Main Street. She didn’t like it when Mitch got in the band because she wanted her musical talent focused on playing the piano.
When she went off to college, her dad asked three people where she should go: Fessor Burleson, Miss Annie Ruth, and Lizzie Reed Penn. They all said Birmingham Southern, so off she went.
She was majoring in music, but the piano teacher wasn’t happy with her practicing. For her exam, he made her play a Bach Etude very, VERY slow which she did and did it accurately. The head of the conservatory said, “Anybody that could play a Bach Etude that slowly and keep the beat deserved an ‘A.” He gave her an ‘A’ and it made the teacher furious. She changed to major in art after that quarter.
Mitch married George Howell May 22, 1954, at 7 in the evening. She spent the afternoon water skiing on the Tennessee River. She and her friends made it home in time to dress but her hair was still a ‘little damp.’
In the fall of 1990, she reconnected with a gentleman by the name of Clarence Lee Coon. As he left the front porch after their second date he spun around and declared, “I’m gonna marry you.” Sure enough, they tied the knot in the Lovelady house on December 27, 1990.
The family wishes to give special thanks to the caregivers of Home Instead and Aveanna Hospice for their kindness and outstanding care.
In lieu of flowers, the family wishes donations be made to The Good Samaritan Fund at First United Methodist Church, 210 Hickory Street SE, Hartselle, AL 35640.
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Peck Funeral Home
