Lula Aldena Barnes Powell age 92, died May 17th, 2024, in Saint Johns, Florida, surrounded by her loving family. She had lived at Westminster Woods on Julington Creek, Saint Johns, FL since 2013. She was born February 10, 1932 near Council Hill, OK, the daughter of Charles Louis Barnes and Elsie Lee Gray Barnes.
In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her two sisters and their husbands, Norma Roberta (Clarence) Neel and Elza Louise (Glenn) Hobbs. Surviving are her four children with her husband, Jerrel Buel Powell, daughters Janice (Jim) West, Brenda Day, Nancy Powell, and son Dale (Linda Randall) Powell, four grandchildren, Samuel West, Melissa West, Laura Powell, and Miranda (Ben) Griego, and many nieces and nephews.
Aldena graduated from Wainright High School in Oklahoma in 1950. She was the valedictorian of her class and played on the school’s basketball team. Even though small in stature, her basketball coach told her that dynamite came in small packages. Aldena learned to play the piano and became the accompanist for the high school choral and drama groups, played for church services and Sunday school, and often for gospel singing conventions, while her father led the singing. She attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. While attending OSU, she married Jerrel Buel Powell and they began a life journey together. They lived in seven different states in the United States and celebrated 71 years together in December of 2023.
Aldena began her career as a teacher in the Tift County school system in Georgia. After seven years in Georgia, the family moved to Maryland, where proximity to the National Archives gave her an opportunity to explore family ancestry. Her research led to compilations and books on branches of the Barnes, Brown, Gray, Hicks, Lochner, Pfeifer, and Powell families. One of her books took first place in a countywide writing contest.
Aldena was a life-long Methodist and served the churches where she lived as a membership chairman, librarian volunteer, and teacher. She also served as secretary/treasurer for the Middleton Chapel Cemetery in Muskogee County OK for many years. She also volunteered for Habitat for Humanity and built houses and schools on missions to Mexico. Most memorably was raising four children to adulthood.
Condolences and special memories may be shared online at Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home 11801 San Jose Blvd, Jacksonville FL. Services will be private.
Interment is at the Jacksonville National Cemetery.
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