Mary Carolin Powell

Mary Carolin Powell softly passed away on May 20, 2015, three days shy of her 100th birthday. Her keen mind and her engaging personality belied her age until her very last days. She was readily acknowledged as a pillar of her family, a position that emanated from her gentle strength, her considered judgement, her kind temperament, and her principled character. Carolin’s naturally engaging demeanor was encouraging of friendships, many casual, and others deep and long-lasting--all were important. To her, ‘ill-temper’ was a foreign notion. For the past 11 years Carolin resided at Glenaire Retirement Community, Cary, NC.

Carolin was born in Warrensburg, MO, to Henry and Louenza Brosius Krohn. She was the youngest of six siblings. After graduating from high school at 16, she studied art education at Central Missouri State Teachers’ College at Warrensburg, earning the BA degree in 1934. She was a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma national sorority. Upon graduation, Carolin and her two best childhood friends, Mary Frances Mattingly and Mary Dorothy Jones, moved to Hammond, IN, where Carolin taught art at Hammond High School. She continued her studies in art and interior design at Columbia University in New York, and received her MA in 1943, a rather unusual distinction for a woman at that time. Her critical eye for good taste was expressed in all that she did. She enjoyed beauty in her surroundings and loved sharing her home with friends and family.

On June 20, 1943, Carolin married Dr. Norman B. Powell, whom she met through a lifelong college friend. Together, Carolin and Norman spent more than 60 cherished years, until his death in October 2005. They lived much of their married life in Moline, IL, where Norman practiced Ob-Gyn for 30+ years and raised their two daughters, Susan and Jane. In 1972, Carolin and Norman moved to Torrance, CA, where Norman assumed a faculty position at UCLA/Harbor General Hospital. Upon retirement, they relocated to Greensboro, NC, and subsequently, to Cary to be nearer to Susan’s family. Carolin took great pleasure in seeing her grandchildren mature to adulthood and was always a conscientious supporter of their activities. She was particularly fond of family gatherings and especially, travel with Susan and her husband, together with his parents, with whom she and Norman shared a close friendship.

Carolin is survived by her daughter, Susan Newell and her husband Richard L. Tuttle of Raleigh, NC; and, her daughter, Jane and her husband Richard Pelletier of Littleton, CO; and her grandchildren: Anne Newell-Fugate, husband Aaron and daughter Connie of College Station TX; Sarah Williamson and husband Eric of Jamestown, NC: and, Christine Pelletier, of Ft. Collins, CO.

Private interment will be with her husband at Raleigh Memorial Park. A celebration of Carolin’s life will be scheduled at the Glenaire Retirement Community in the near future.

Carolin made many wonderful friends among residents of the Glenaire Retirement Community and in her last days received loving care from the staff of the East Skilled Nursing Center. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that those who wish make a donation in Carolin's memory to the Glenaire Foundation, 4000 Glenaire Circle, Cary, NC 27511 or White Memorial Church, 1704 Oberlin Rd., Raleigh, NC 27608.

Condolences may be sent through: www.brownwynnecary.com