A Celebration of Life Service honoring Bess will be held at 2:00pm on Sunday, May 8, 2022 at Bethany United Methodist Church in Yazoo County. Burial will follow afterwards in the Church cemetery.
Bess was born on May 26, 1938, in Yazoo County, Mississippi, to Wyche Terrell Stubblefield and Bessie Virginia Hilderbrand Stubblefield. Bess had a caring heart and enjoyed volunteering, but her family was the apple of her eye that she cared for and supported tirelessly. In her free time, she enjoyed quilting, gardening, prayer, Bible study, cooking, and antiques. She was first and foremost a keeper of hearth and home, but having raised her children, she became the proprietor of an Antique Mall in Richland, Mississippi, and was known for her unique style of home interior decoration and remodeling that was reported in the Yazoo Herald. She reached the hearts and filled the bellies of thousands through her kitchen and prison ministries with the Christian Motorcyclists Association based in Arkansas, where she spent the latter part of her life with her husband, Gene Harlan Powell also of Yazoo County, Mississippi.
In addition to her parents, Bess was preceded in death by her sons, Faron John Powell and Gene Harlan Powell, Jr. and her sister, Marion Ann Ledbetter.
She is survived by her beloved husband of 65 years, Gene Harlan Powell; children, Donna and Roland Diaz, Caren and Bob Brister, Sandra and John Cartwright, Wesley and Krista Powell and Mary Bess and Alex Gloria. She had twelve grandchildren: Robert Brister, Morgan Hegi, RJ Diaz, Jon Diaz, Wes Powell, Zachary Gene Powell, Kate Powell, Eli Powell, Audrey Cartwright, John Cartwright, Lucy Gloria and Taj Gloria, as well as 7 great grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister Mary Sue Shipp and her brother Marlin John “Sonny” Stubblefield.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Bethany Methodist Church at PO Box 243, Yazoo City, MS 39194.
Bess will be so dearly missed.
