Kitty King Powell

Kitty was born in Bay City, Texas on the 25th of July 1917, to John M. and Nancy Duncan Corbett and grew up there with her athletic brothers, Duncan and James Gibbons (Teenie). Their mother loved to paint and would travel in summers to art workshops, the children in tow. Kitty attended Bay City Public Schools, graduated from Chatham Hall in Virginia, attended Sweet Briar College for 2 years and graduated from the University of Texas in bacteriology in 1938.

In 1939 she married Ben H. Powell, Jr. The well matched couple spent their first year of marriage in Boston MA where Ben received a Master of Laws from Harvard in 1940. Back to Texas where Ben practiced law with Powell, Wirtz and Rauhut, they began their family with Nancy Duncan Powell. After moving to Washington DC during World War II, Marian Rather Powell was born in 1941. At war’s end, it was back to Austin and the law firm…and the birth of Benjamin Harrison Powell V in 1946. Kitty was a mother above all and mixed her love of Austin and good times with friends with activities like the presidency of the Kappa Kappa Gamma Alumnae, Community Arts Chairman of the Junior League, and volunteer work with the Austin Symphony and Austin Public Schools. She was the “master of the ship” at Fort Clark in Brackettville where all the family loved what they thought was the best spring-fed swimming pool in the state. Through it all, she never lost her love of tennis – from her Bay City backyard court, to a Camp Nakanawa championship, to her doubles games with younger and younger partners in the big cities.

In 1955 Kitty and Ben moved the family to Houston when Ben became General Counsel of Brown & Root. A year later, Katherine Corbett Powell’s birth completed the family. Kitty continued her community service, for years a docent at the Bayou Bend Collection and also a volunteer with the Mental Health Association. She was a member of St. John the Divine Episcopal Church, River Oaks Country Club and the Southern Garden Club.

Kitty was a go-getter, full of energy, drive and life. As a youth, she was a tomboy. While visiting Chautauqua in Boulder one summer with her parents, she famously snuck away with a new-found companion to climb the Third Flatiron. In later life, when not leading the family or serving her community, she would often accompany Ben on one of his many business trips throughout the world, often in Latin America and Southern Asia, delighting in new discoveries and experiences. New eras brought more adventures, from christening the Derrick Barge Atlas in Rotterdam in 1965, to riding the Ecuadorian mountain railways (atop the roof of the rail car), to parasailing high above a Mexican beach in her 70’s. Kitty was all business, but she was also a daredevil who knew how to have fun.

She and Ben set up The Powell Foundation in 1967, but her philanthropy went well beyond the foundation. In recent years she took particular pleasure in supporting many favorite community organizations, an inspiration to her descendants.

Kitty is survived by her four children: Nancy Powell Moore, Marian Powell Harrison and husband Henry Harrison, Benjamin Harrison Powell V and wife Sarah Yeager Powell, Katherine Powell Hill and husband Archibald Govan Hill IV; her grandchildren Harvin Cooper Moore IV and wife Janet Haldeman Moore, Marian Moore Casey and husband Christopher Doss Casey, Thomas Benjamin Osborne and wife Michelle Vancil-Osborne, Katherine Osborne Valdez and husband Paul (Pablo) Michael Valdez, Molly Noble Kidd and husband Kyle Eugene Kidd, Richard Cullen Powell and wife Alison May Powell, Benjamin Harrison Powell VI and wife Winnie Kellogg Powell, Blanche Hill Nicoll and husband Alexander Bowden Nicoll, Archibald Govan Hill V and Eleanor Inez Hill; her 13 great grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

For the past twenty years, Kitty lived at the Hallmark Retirement Community where she enjoyed many close friendships. The family is particularly grateful for the loving and compassionate care given to Miss Kitty by Ira Sam, Rose Smith and Virginia Perez as well as Dr. Kurt Merkelz and staff at both the Hallmark and Hospice Compassus of Houston.

A funeral service will be conducted at ten o’clock in the morning on Tuesday, the 17th of November, at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church, 2450 River Oaks Boulevard in Houston, where the Rev. Dr. Douglas W. Richnow, Senior Associate Rector is to officiate. Pallbearers are Harvin C. Moore IV, Tom B. Osborne, R. Cullen Powell, Ben H. Powell VI, Archibald G. Hill V, Christopher D. Casey, Kyle E. Kidd and Pablo M. Valdez. Burial will follow at two o’clock in the afternoon in Huntsville, Texas at the Oakwood Cemetery.

For those desiring, contributions in memory of Kitty may be made to the Gibbs-Powell House (and mailed to Walker County Historical Commission, 1301 Sam Houston Ave., Room 226, Huntsville, Texas 77340) or to the charity of one’s choice.