William (Bill) Rufus Powell, 76, devoted husband of Mary Soria Powell, died peacefully at home with his wife by his side after a brief and courageous battle with cancer on December 30, 2019. Bill was fond of telling friends his wife of 25 years was the “love of his life, his angel.” Bill and Mary were inseparable and resided together in Annapolis for 25 years.
Born on March 3, 1943 in Easton, he was raised by his beloved grandparents Rufus and Evelyn Radcliffe on their chicken farm near Centerville, MD. He was honest, no nonsense, unpretentious and was not impressed by fools or fakery. His essential character was formed on the Eastern Shore with his grandparents. He was hardworking, generous and kind, and helped both friends and casual acquaintances: tutoring a friend to help him get his captains license, helping friends fix their boats, and anonymously delivering gardening tools to a neighbor are a just few examples of his generosity that are too numerous to mention. He was an avid woodworker and spent his last days in his garage wood shop making 286 wooden toy cars to give to children in need this Christmas.
He and Mary were regulars at the Federal House in Annapolis, and Bill would often take the staff fishing and also visit the kitchen to sneak some brownies. He was an active member of the Fleet Reserve Club and the Annapolis Yacht Club, where Bill and Mary felt the staff was their family. Bill was the great, great grandson of Captain William Henry Burtis whose home is the last waterman’s home on City Dock in Annapolis. Bill and Mary were instrumental in a decades long campaign to save the Burtis House at City Dock to preserve the history of watermen in Annapolis.
Bill was a true Maryland waterman himself. His career was spent on the water, and, naturally, his main hobby was boating and kayaking. He was a Tug-Boat Captain for Corman and McClain for many years and a Maryland Bay Pilot Boat skipper delivering Bay Pilots, in both fair weather and howling gales, to freighters bound for the Port of Baltimore. He enjoyed all things related to the water: building boats and kayaks and an expert water skier. he enjoyed scuba diving and founded the Annapolis Scuba Center. He enjoyed bringing friends from all parts of his life out on his boat to fish or cruise or to visit the Eastern Shore for a crab feast.
His time in the Army was also focused on the water. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1966 where he graduated from Navy Dive School and served in South Vietnam and offshore aboard the USNS Corpus Christi Bay. While serving in Vietnam, Bill ran dive, salvage and transport operations in the Mekong River Delta as well as the Gulf of Tonkin. His boat came under fire many times and was once sunk in shark infested waters. The crew survived because the sharks ate the food they had been delivering. Bill and his crew were rescued by an Australian Navy boat. This experience made him cool under pressure for the rest of his boating life. He liked to jokingly point out to friends in Annapolis that the Army has more boats than the Navy.
Predeceased by his grandparents and his parents, William Harvey Powell and Mary Emma Radcliffe, he is survived by his wife Mary Soria Powell, his daughter Heather Powell Crowder and his grandchildren Caroline and Elizabeth Crowder.
A memorial gathering for family and friends will be held at John M. Taylor Funeral Home 147 Duke of Gloucester Street Annapolis, Maryland 21401 on Monday January 13, 2019 from 5 to 7 PM. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Hospice of the Chesapeake.In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Hospice of the Chesapeake.
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