A memorial service and visitation will be held at Belton Presbyterian Church, 122 Main Street, Belton, Missouri. Details below.
Walter was born on March 26, 1935 in Lawton, Oklahoma, to Clarence Cartee and Erta Archie (née Gibson) Powell. He was preceded in death by his brothers Freddie, Jimmy, R.D., Willard, and Eddie, and his wife Beverly Ann. He is survived by brother Don; his son Shawn Collin Powell; daughters Peggy Jo (and Scott) Ciafullo, Kerry Ann Meireis, Erin Lea Mills; grandchildren Dylan, Colin, Megan, Joshua, Jaina, Maggie and Thomas, nieces and nephews, great nieces and great nephews.
He received his Bachelor of Science from East Central State College and his Master of Science in Metallurgical Engineering from Lehigh University. He had the ambition and grades to become a doctor but no financial assistance was available so he applied with friends to an AT&T work-study program, was accepted and hired. He would work for the Western Electric division of AT&T his entire life. His name appears on several patents granted to AT&T.
Of particular pride to him was his participation in the installation of and personnel training for the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE). SAGE was, during the 1950’s to 1980’s cold war era, a system of large computers and associated networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image of the airspace over a wide area. It was part of NORAD.
On February 11, 1961, Walter married Beverly Ann Wilson in Great Falls, Montana. He loved to tell the story of how they met on a blind date. Due to his involvement with the SAGE project and work-study program, they moved around the country frequently in the early years of their marriage. Initially stationed in Great Falls, Montana, they moved to Phoenix, Arizona, back to Great Falls, on to Trenton, New Jersey, then finally settled in Raytown, Missouri to raise their children.
Walter was very active in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church serving many years as Clerk of Session. He later served as Clerk of Presbytery, again for several years. He served as Scoutmaster in the Boy Scouts of America.
He was accomplished in woodworking, creating many fine pieces of furniture for the family’s Raytown home. He later put this skill to use producing craft pieces in his and Beverly’s business that they named Jubilee Crafts.
He enjoyed fishing, camping, outdoor activities, playing the guitar, singing in choir, was good and patient at training others, and perhaps unexpected of an engineer, wrote poetry.
