06/01/2023 Information from Kim Shreve.  JFC

Zennia Lanae Howard

Jan. 18, 1966 - May 28, 2007

SOUTH BEND -- Mrs. Zennia Lanae Howard, was born Zennia Lanae Phillips to her loving parents, Robert Samuel and Dorothy Lee Johnson Phillips, on January 18, 1966, in South Bend, Indiana. She passed away Monday, May 28, 2007, in her home, after a brief illness.

On February 14, 1998, she was united in marriage to her loving husband, Theorlodins Howard I and together they have two children.

Zennia was a 1983 graduate of LaSalle High School in South Bend, IN where she was a record-holder in basketball and track. Often referred to as a phenomenon in basketball, she received All American honors as a senior and received a basketball scholarship from California State University. After receiving a double BS in computer science and communications she returned to South Bend, to began her career as a news producer for WSJV TV. She then accepted a position in Detroit as an Account Executive at FM 98 WJLB. Her media career continued at WXON in Detroit, where she appeared in on-air public service announcements. From there she began to realize her true gift in working with youth.

She was an NBA Stay in School Motivational Speaker and trained youth in basketball at Joe Dumars Field House, which was a newly constructed, multi-million dollar facility, designed to focus on basketball training and competition. Zennia managed several youth NBA basketball camps for Magic Johnson, Penny Hardaway, Alan Houston, Joe Dumars and Terrell Buckley. Zennia and her husband also created The Hype on the Hardwood Basketball Organization, which provided competitive leagues and camps that featured NBA players, such as former Detroit Piston Captain Michael Curry.

Coach Z left the high profile atmosphere of Joe Dumars Field House to begin a new mission of assisting under privileged and at-risk youth, assisting with her husband at the Eastside YMCA in the inner city of Detroit. Zennia and Theo breathed life into the failing branch of the YMCA.

There, Zennia is best remembered for coordinating the most competitive youth basketball leagues in the city. Although the facility was old, and in need of many repairs, her programs continued to thrive and gain notoriety. Zennia also began a mentorship program pairing professionals from the community with at-risk youth. Through this program, she and Theo met and adopted two godsons, John Kornegay and Darryle Cross.

Upon arriving in Winston Salem, NC, Zennia immediately began making her mark in the community, and impacting the lives of youth by joining forces with the Kernersville Family YMCA. There she introduced the basketball academy that she had developed back in Detroit, MI. Parents and youth alike immediately embraced the beautiful and bubbly basketball expert.

Zennia Lanae Phillips-Howard will be best remembered as a missionary who exemplified the YMCA motto of building strong kids, strong families, and strong communities. Her magnetic personality and fantastically gorgeous smile brought people together and warmed the hearts of everyone. She was the most giving and driven person imaginable.

Zennia was preceded in death by her mother, Dorothy (Leroy) Johnson; maternal grandparents, Dan and Emma Lou (Sayles) Bradford; paternal grandparents, Houston Phillips and Annie (Bethel) Austin.

She is survived by loving husband, Theorlodins D. Howard I; and her two beautiful children, Theorlodins II and Thallan; two godchildren, John Kornegay and Darryl Cross; her father, Robert Samuel (Shirley) Phillips; mother and father-in-law, Geraldine and Charlie Larkin; sisters, Debra (Quentin) Smith, Ramona (Damon) Hairston, Tinia (Terrance) Scott, Tina Johnson, and Charlotte Johnson; godsisters, Maureen Barkume, and Yolanda Green; brothers, Nathaniel (Cindy) Bradford, Derrick Phillips, Allan Phillips, Mark Phillips, Ricardo (Kito) Phillips, and Michael Johnson; her brother-in-law, Melvin Howard; as well as a host of nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews and other relatives and friends.

Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 5, 2007, from the First Christian Church, 1130 N. Main Street, Kernersville, NC 27284, with Pastor Nathaniel Bradford officiating. Interment will follow in Eastlawn Gardens of Memory, Kernersville, NC. The family visitation will be held from 12 noon until 1 p.m. on Tuesday at the church.

Online condolences may be made at www.russellfuneralservice.com (RUSSELL).

Published in the South Bend Tribune on June 4, 2007.

07/01/2023 DEC

South Bend Tribune