Iona Powell

"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two imposters just the same. Onie, as she was sometimes called was that woman.

Iona Powell was born in Trelawny , Jamaica on December 31, 1913 to Edward and Helen Campbell. She grew up and trained in a giving profession, namely nursing. She was a midwife and supervisor in Kingston before migrating to the United States for good in 1959 for good.

Despite being a nurse in Jamaica she had to renew and add more training in the United States .

As a single mother of two in a new country the idea of returning to school could have been discouraging; however Iona Powell did not complain. Her motto would be “you just do what you have to do; work hard and take care of your family.” With the same tenacity that she had always exhibited, Iona Powell went to New Jersey State University and received her second degree in Nursing.

She worked as a nurse for E.O. General and V.L. Davey Junior High School in East Orange for many years. She received the Health care award in 1975. In addition to working sometimes two jobs and raising her children, Dawn and Keith, she found time to give to others. Among the list of charitable activities Iona volunteered for the Boy Scouts, Soup Kitchen, The Jamaica Nurses association and the NAACP. Her life was one of love and to service to others.

In 1983, once the kids were grown she relocated to Orlando, Fl. She now had time to play Bridge and travel; and travel she did. Rome, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Greece and England were some of the favorites! In addition to bridge and traveling she found many new activities in Florida that she loved to volunteer for, especially the Orlando International airport Informational Center, Orlando Orchid Society and the Orlando Art Museum. She saved her letters of commendation from her work.

In fact on her 90th birthday she gave herself the car she always wanted, a Volvo, in which she proceeded to give a ride to everyone she could; especially to bridge games or to church services.

There will be many things that will be missed. There was another line in“If” … “If you fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run. Yours is the earth and everything that is in it.” Iona Naomi Campbell Powell certainly filled her minute, and in so doing has inherited a wealth of love, appreciation, and respect from those she came in contact with.

Iona passed away just 3 days before her 98th birthday, after living a full and fruitful life. Her life was one full of humor and adventure. She never stopping loving and never stopped giving. She leaves behind two children, Dawn and Keith,son-in- law Vernon and daughter-in-law Estrelita, five grandchildren, and two great grand children. She leaves behind many friends. The family particularly thanks her friends and the Florida group who have made the last years of her life special.

A memorial service will be held at St. Mary of the Angels Episcopal Church, 6316 Matchett Road, Orlando, at 2:30pm, on Saturday, January 28. Arrangements entrusted to Woodlawn Memorial Park and Funeral Home, 400 Woodlawn Cemetery Road, Gotha. Donations may be made to the Poverty Law Center.