Marie Powell Hombs

Marie Powell Hombs was born on September 26, 1923 and passed away on March 12, 2021 in Alexandria, VA. Born Marie Cecelia Powell in Wood River, Illinois on September 26, 1923, she was pre-deceased in 2013 by her husband of 68 years, Roger Hombs. Marie was the much-loved only child of Herb and Nellie Powell. Marie grew up surrounded by a large circle of aunts, uncles, and cousins with whom she remained close throughout her life. From her mother, she learned the kitchen and sewing skills with which she made any house into a welcoming home that radiated her exemplary and generous hospitality.

As an early and avid reader, Marie glimpsed the world beyond her small town. She was inspired to see the world in travels she was already planning and which eventually took her to well over 100 countries in the company of family and friends. Throughout her life she could recall in detail the people she met and places she visited. Her early reading including National Geographic and The New Yorker, extended her horizons to a larger world she fully intended to examine firsthand. Marie loved the time spent at the family cabin on the bank of the Illinois River. There she joined her father, uncles and cousins fishing and hunting in the woods, she swam and rowed a boat on the river, and she had fun crossing the frozen river on foot in the winter. Family was also the focus of her travel, as she traced the route of her father during WWI, guided by his notes on the back of his pocket bible. She and Roger regularly drove to St. Louis to visit aging aunts and uncles and kept up with far-flung cousins.

After graduating for Wood River High School, Marie did war work before entering St. Luke's Hospital of Nursing in St. Louis to become a Registered Nurse. St. Luke's provided Marie's first exposure to the Episcopal church, which she and Roger later joined. As a student nurse, Marie rotate through all the specialties that exposed her to a range of nursing, but her true interest was in the St. Luke's operating room, assisting with a variety of procedures led by surgeons skilled in diverse clinical areas. Later in life she would care for both of her parents as they aged.

At a nurses' dance in 1944, Marie met Roger Hombs, a Washington University dental student in the ROTC wartime program. Marie and Roger were engaged that September on her birthday and married in June 1945 when they had both graduated.

In 1947 Marie sailed with other military wives on the Hospital Ship Comfort from San Francisco, bound for the Pacific to join their husbands, Clark Air Base in the Philippines was the first of many places Marie and Roger would call home. They returned to the U.S. via St. Louis where their daughter Peggy was born in 1949, with Marie listening to the 1949 Cardinals on the radio while she awaited Peggy's arrival.

With a move to Wichita Falls, Texas the family welcomed a second daughter Mary Ellen in 1951, Marie and the girls returned to Wood River to live with her parents, while Roger spent a year in Thule, Greenland as Chief of Dental Services. After three more years in Texas, they were off to the Caribbean Air Command in the Panama Canal Zone. Already they were forming lifelong friendships with other Air Force families who would permanently be part of their lives. Marie was a loyal friend, at 97 still talking regularly to her best friend from the first grade in Wood River.

Wherever they lived, Marie, explored local arts, culture, and cuisine, ensuring that her family was familiar with the community around them. Marie was an active and enthusiastic hostess and partner to the social duties that accompanied Roger's rank. Wherever "home" was, Marie and Roger ensured that church and school were center of family life, and that the interests of their increasingly well-traveled daughters were encouraged. Marie was a Girl Scout leader, and active church volunteer, and involved in officers' wives charitable endeavors.

In late 1966 Roger moved to the of Office of the Surgeon General in Washington, DC, and later named Assistant Surgeon General for Dental Services, attaining the rank of Major General in 1972. With 33 years of active service - from Army Private to Major General - Roger retired in 1975.

Retirement brought the opportunity to make commitments in the church they joined in 1971- St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Alexandria, VA. Marie served on the Alter Guild and was involved in the St. Catherine's Chapter and the United Thank Offering. She was a member of the Vestry, made stewardship calls, actively responded to hunger and homeless in the community, and visited the sick and elderly of the church. Marie and Roger helped christen the original Older Young Churchmen (OYC) group at St. Luke's and enjoyed the Senior Saints annual lunch. Both volunteered with the local hypothermia shelter. They participated in a FISH group and were Pastoral Lay Associates.

Marie is survived by her daughters. Peggy L. Hombs (Steven C. Van Voorhees) of Richmond, VA, and Mary Ellen Hombs of Boston, and by her cousin Ronald Powell (Linda), Joan Robledo, and Linda Garrett (Jimmie). She was a valued older friend to Coert Van Voorhees (Dianne) and Gerrit Van Voorhees (Amanda) and a fan of the promising next generation of Van Voorhees: Brittany, Madison (Justin), and CJ. She is survived by her nephew Tom (Karen) Hombs and niece Heidi Hombs Cortelyou. The family thanks Marie's caregiver Isha Kanu who brought comfort and cheer to Marie for the last several years. Gifts to honor Marie's memory may be made in the name of the Gifts and Memorial Fund at St. Luke's Episcopal Church.