WALKER COUNTY
PROUD 2020
DEE HOWARD MULLINS
Changing for
the future
Mullins brings experiences to city council
STORY BY MICHELLE WULFSON
Looking towards the future, it’s important to remember the past.
Dee Howard-Mullins has led a life of serving others, lifting people and communities up
to be better. Following a long career of giving others second chances, the Huntsville native
found her way back three years ago to divulge on a new path, blending past and present
with visions for the future of her home town.
“I don’t think I really had an idea of what I wanted to do, some people are fortunate
that when they’re five years-old, they’re like, ‘I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that,’”
Huntsville city councilmember Dee Howard-Mullins said, remembering her grand dreams
of becoming a gymnast disintegrating once realizing it wasn’t a feasible option.
However, growing up in Huntsville, she developed a heart for community, which has
served as the basis for her life’s success.
“Huntsville, I thought, was really a great community. We lived in the same community
with our teachers, we went to church with our teachers and our other leaders in our community,
and it just seemed like one big family,” Howard-Mullins remembered.
Howard-Mullins fondly recalls growing up in the black neighborhoods of Huntsville,
spending her days among a second community composed of black business owners,
friends and family. She found in herself a passion for second chances and helping people
better themselves, drawing her to a long career in parole and probation work.
“I believe that we are each other’s
keepers and we are responsible
for our communities, and we
have to give back one way or
another. I knew I wanted to do
something like social work, and
criminal justice was kind of the
compromise.”
“I believe that we are each other’s
keepers and we are responsible for our
communities, and we have to give back one
way or another,” Howard Mullins said. “I
knew I wanted to do something like social
work, and criminal justice was kind of the
compromise.”
After graduating from Sam Houston
State University in 1976, a young Howard-
Mullins began her career as a parole officer
with the Texas Youth Council, now known as
the Texas Youth Commission, before going
to work for the juvenile probation department
in 1980.
“The work was challenging, I really enjoyed
working with families, working with
the juveniles, and trying to make a difference,”
Howard-Mullins said.
In 1984, she went to work for the federal
court as a probation officer followed by a
rise in rank to training supervisor dealing
with case and court work.
“Federal court was a totally different
experience and it worked for me. I loved
the professionalism, I loved the variety of
cases that are handled via the federal court,
it required you to operate at a very different
level, you had to up your game, and I appreciated
that,” Howard-Mullins said.
“I think I stayed in it because of the
challenge, because of the process of seeing
the court work and hopefully my role in that
process was being a fair arbitrator for individuals
who had broken the law. I tried to
put myself in their position as to how would
I want to be treated, I tried to treat all of the
30 | HUNTSVILLE LIVING | FALL 2020