March 11, 2022, 85, Goldsboro –
William Lee Powell, Jr., 85, died Friday, March 11, 2022, at Cypress Glen Retirement Community in Greenville, NC.
He was born in Raleigh, NC on March 14, 1936, to William Lee Powell and Thelma Mae Talton Powell. In addition to his parents, Bill was preceded in death by his sisters, JoAnne Powell Crawford and Mollie Powell Rasor.
Bill is survived by his wife of 59 years, Emily Tucker Powell; his daughters, Elizabeth Powell Fry (Randall) and Sarah Powell Wood (Bryan); his grandchildren, William Randall Fry (Anisha Kamat), Callie Elizabeth Fry, Tucker Powell Fry, Emily Page Fry, and Anna Jordan Wood; and sister, Patricia Powell Kellogg (Howard).
Bill grew up in Raleigh, attending Hayes Barton Elementary and graduating from Broughton High School. He began Wake Forest College in the town of Wake Forest and moved with the school to Winston-Salem in 1956. Bill then graduated from Wake Forest College in 1958, followed by Wake Forest Law School in 1961. During college, Bill was in Army ROTC and fulfilled his active duty with the 6-mo./6-yr. program. He was stationed at Ft. Gordon, GA and Fort Jackson, SC. His first year as a lawyer, he clerked for Judge Emery Denny, NC Supreme Court. Then he joined the Dees Law Firm in Goldsboro, NC, where he practiced primarily real estate law for 44 years with what became Dees, Smith, Powell, Jarrett, Dees and Jones.
Bill and Emily met on a blind date in 1960 and were married in 1962. They lived in Goldsboro for 55 years before moving to Cypress Glen. Throughout Bill’s life, Family was paramount, especially time spent traveling, camping, having family meals, enjoying vacations. He loved to garden, starting things from seeds or cuttings: vegetables, flowers, shrubs, trees. He also loved history, geography, current events. Bill found great purpose and meaning in the causes to which he was committed, including First Baptist Church of Goldsboro, public education, the Wayne County Boys Club, the Wayne County Board of Elections, local historic preservation, the Wayne County Community Building, the Wayne County Veterans Memorial, his Broughton class of 1954, his law school fraternity brothers.
His funeral service will be Saturday, March 19, 2022, at 10:30 am, First Baptist Church, Goldsboro, NC. The Family will receive friends starting at 9:30 am in the church Fellowship Hall. Burial will be at Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, NC. For the protection of all in attendance, the family requests that everyone wear a mask.
Memorial gifts may be given in Bill’s memory to First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 1538, Goldsboro, NC 27533 or to the Greg Rasor Memorial Endowed Scholarship, Wake Tech Foundation, 9101 Fayetteville Road, Montague Hall, Suite 320, Raleigh, NC 27603, or another charity of your choice.
Arrangements are being handled by Seymour Funeral Home and Cremation Service. Online condolences may be expressed at www.seymourfuneralhome.com.
