Kathleen H. Powell

Kathleen Hamilton Neagle Powell, 97, of Raleigh, passed away April 25, 2017 in Raleigh. She was born on July 13, 1919, the second child of Ione Jane Hamilton Neagle and Kenneth Heron Neagle, in Clinton, Missouri. Kathleen was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed child with the straightest of hair, which she dreamed and wished, was curly. Both parents were educated and were school teachers. She later reminisced that, during her childhood without TV or modern technology, they passed the time in the evening with her parents telling stories including all the Greek, Norse, and Roman myths, and Grimm's and Andersen's Fairy Tales. Kathleen and her sisters and mother would spend the summer on her paternal grandparents’ farm in southern Missouri, while father Kenneth took college courses to complete his B.S. degree. Those were happy times, filled with egg collecting, playing with animals, climbing on hay bales, enjoying swimmin’ holes, blackberry pickin’ and milk straight from the cow. Sadly, her mother Ione passed away in 1929, so Aunt Molly and Uncle Isaacs moved in to help care for the family. Kathleen graduated from high school in 1937, wearing a pretty blue dress her older sister Mary had bought for her graduation. During WW II, after both Mary and younger sister Betty were married, Kathleen moved with her dad Kenneth to Kansas City and worked for Pratt and Whitney, helping with the war effort. Around 1945, she moved in with Mary and her husband Vincent Powell, and their four children, to help with their growing family. From that day forward, she was “Aunt Kay” and became the “third parent” in the household that eventually had nine children. Kathleen enjoyed gardening, both vegetables and flowers, and shared that talent with the Powell family, as well as cooking, cleaning, soothing fevered brows, singing lullabies and telling stories to the children. She had a very gentle and kind nature about her, always trying to take care of others and show compassion. A few years later, she worked for Milgram’s Groceries as a cashier, and won the Cashier of the Year award for being one of the most favorite cashiers in all the Kansas City stores. In 1967, she and the Powell family moved to Martinez, California, where she began working for the Contra Costa County Social Services department’s clerical pool, eventually rising to positions in management and later retiring from that organization. During her time in Martinez, she went to night school and earned her B.S. degree in Public Administration, training that was quite relevant in her simultaneous career. Kathleen loved to travel and was able to make several trips to Hawaii (one of her favorite places) and one trip to Europe, as well as trips across the continental US. She remained unmarried, helping and caring for the children, then in later years, also caring for sister Mary and brother-in-law Vincent. Eventually, a few years after Mary passed away, Kathleen and Vincent married in 1998, and they enjoyed a few years together before she was widowed in 2000. Encouraged by Jerry Powell and his family, she moved to Raleigh, North Carolina in 2005, into the Springmoor Retirement Community, where she lived out the rest of her days amongst a wonderful and caring staff, a wide array of lovely friends she made there, and near to Jerry’s large and loving family nearby.

She is survived by Jerry (& Carolyn) Powell (North Carolina), Drs. Alice (& Suvid) Pita (Texas), William (& Marilyn) Powell (Arkansas), Brian Powell (Texas), Maria Powell Norton ( and the late Jeffrey Norton Utah), Michael (& Terry) Powell (California), and Patrick (& Lulu) Powell (Mexico). She is preceded in death by her parents Kenneth and Ione, her sisters Mary (and husband Vincent) and Betty (and husband James), niece Catherine (Minah) Powell (California), and nephew Joseph Powell (Texas).

Kathleen was a Christian and believed in her Savior, trusting in His love and guidance. What a legacy of love and kindness she has left for all of us to try to emulate.

A memorial service will be held at 2:30 pm Saturday April 29, 2017 at Springmoor Retirement Community, 1500 Sawmill Rd. Raleigh, NC 27615. Interment of the ashes will be in the Springmoor Memorial Garden.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to Springmoor Endowment Fund.

Arrangements are under the care of Brown-Wynne Funeral Home 300 Saint Mary’s St. Raleigh, NC 27605.