1978 grads return to lead service at Valley Worship

Rev. Rod Howell and his wife Joani Marshall Howell, both 1978 graduates of Hood River Valley High School, will be returning to the valley to hold the morning service at Valley Worship Center on Aug. 23. Rod has pastored Central Neighborhood Church in Phoenix, Ore., a suburb of Medford, for the past 27 years. Rod served as associate and youth pastor at the Hood River Assembly of God, now River of Life Assembly, in the mid-1980s, then in Oregon City.

Rod is the son of Phil and Ruby Howell, and Joani is the daughter of Ned and Margaret Marshall. Both families have been long-time residents of the Hood River Valley. Ron is also the brother to Rev. Don Howell, the new pastor of Valley Worship Center.