Richard Ray Powell Sr.

Richard was an elder in the Church of Christ for many years, serving in that role in Gillette, Wyoming and then for many years at the A & M Church of Christ, College Station, Texas.

Richard had three great loves: Church, Family and Travel. He and his wife, Pauline, had many adventurous (but not luxurious!) trips over the seventy-three years of their marriage.

His working career began at Magnolia Refinery in Beaumont, Texas, at the very bottom of the ladder...literally! He started as part of a labor-gang, cleaning out oil tanks. Over time, he moved up to a supervisory position for Mobil Oil. He spent 4 1/2 years in Sumatra, Indonesia, in operations, supervising an LNG plant. Then, he and Pauline moved back to Texas to manage a Uranium plant in Hebronville. Richard ended his career with Mobil managing a coal mine in Gillette, Wyoming. After retiring from Mobil he had an opportunity to go to Sakhalin Island, Russia, to oversee the start-up of the first oil refinery on that island.

Richard is survived by his wife Pauline, and four children: Richard Raymond (Ray) Powell, Jr.and his wife, Phyllis, Ewell Ernest (Ernie) Powell and his wife, Linda, Paula Marie Powell Taylor and her husband, Jim, and John Edward Powell and his wife Shawna, along with his sister, Lydia Damrell. He is survived as well by seven grandchildren: Tara Powell Branch, Richard Raymond (Trey) Powell, III, James Taylor, John Taylor, Jordan Powell Presnell, Joanna Powell and Cole Powell, and eight great-grandchildren: Grayson and Davis Branch, Madeline and Emily Powell, Holland, Olivia and Tristan Taylor, and Kobe Taylor.

On July 10th, Richard took his last adventurous trip, this time in luxury, on the wings of a chariot.

Visitation will be held at Memorial Funeral Chapel College Station, 2901 Texas Avenue South, College Station, TX 77845, on July 16, 2026, from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm.