Obituary
Philip W. Powers
(The father of Linda Powers. You can learn a lot about a person by learning a bit of their family history. A friend of the Powers family noted in the online condolence page that Linda was the apple of her father’s eye. Philip Powers was an extraordinary man from what I have learned. Papa9x)
“Much beloved father, grandfather and husband, departed this life on Wednesday, October 22, 2003, after a sudden bout of pneumonia and cardiac arrest. He had successfully defeated two prior cancers, and was waging a strong and successful fight against brain cancer at the time of his death. He touched and inspired all who met him, even only briefly, and was known for his quiet strength, generosity, and upbeat spirit. He will be very sorely missed by his family and friends. Philip Powers was born in Pittsburgh, PA, on March 21, 1925. His family moved to the Boston area in the late 1920s. He grew up in Newton and attended Newton High School. In March 1943, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves and subsequently trained at Parris Island, SC, where he set a range record in rifle marksmanship. After further training in electronics, Philip shipped out to Guam to serve with mop up forces in the Pacific. Thereafter, from 1944-47, he served in the occupation of China, at Tiensin (now Tianjin). He mustered out of the USMC in 1947, having progressed to the rank of Master Sergeant. Philip entered Harvard University in 1947, and graduated in 1951 with an A.B. in Economics. He pursued graduate studies in Industrial Management at Babson College in Wellesley, MA. Following graduation, Philip joined General Radio Company (a precision electronics company then headquartered in Cambridge, MA) as a Management Trainee in Manufacturing. On November 10, 1951, Philip married the former Lois Paterson Jenks, at First Church Congregational in Newton Center, MA. He met his wife while working at Chandler's Hardware store in Newton Center, when he was a student at Harvard and she was a student at Wellesley College. At General Radio, Philip served in a number of management positions, including as manager of the company's Bolton manufacturing plant. In 1965, Philip decided to launch his own business, and moved to Houston, Texas to do so. His family followed at the end of the school year in 1966. In Houston, Philip founded American Research Company, a management consulting firm. Over the next several decades, he and his company undertook advisory work in a wide range of industries, particularly mortgage banking. In the late 1980s, Philip began building an additional business in fine home construction, which he continued throughout the 1990s. Philip was the son of Thomas Broun Powers and Christine Record Powers, brother of Thomas Broun Powers Jr. and Anne Powers Ervin, nephew of Louise Fontaine Powers and Anne Powers, and a cousin once removed of Susie Blair. All of these family members preceded him in death. Philip is survived by his wife of 52 years, Lois and his devoted children: son, Philip W. Powers Jr., his wife Carol Powers and their children Sam, Evelyn and Christine Powers of Rowley, MA; daughter Linda F. Powers and her husband Bob Hemphill of Potomac, MD, and son Bradford B. Powers, his wife Kelley Powers and their children Collin and Erin Powers of Houston, TX, as well as his constant companion, Skipper, his West Highland Terrier. Powers' other daughter, Tara Fontaine Powers, died of leukemia in 1962. Philip was a longtime resident of Newton, Wellesley and Wellesley Hills, and a member of the Wellesley Congregational Church before moving to Houston, TX. In Houston Philip was a member of the Chapelwood United Methodist Church. In recent years, Philip was also a resident of Potomac, MD, and a devoted participant of Potomac United Methodist Church. Throughout his life, Philip spent summer holidays in Maine, first at a cabin on Burgess Pond in Livermore Falls that he built with his father, and for the last 24 years, at his house on Casco Bay in West Bath. A graveside service and interment will take place on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2003 at 2:00 p.m. at the family plot in Woodlawn Cemetery in Wellesley MA (781-235-7133). A coffee hour will follow the interment service at a nearby location. A funeral service was held on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2003, at Chapelwood United Methodist Church in Houston. The family welcomes all who knew or were touched by Philip Powers to join in celebrating his life at these services. Guests are encouraged to bring stories and memories of Philip to share at the coffee hour, as a gift to the family and a tribute to Philip.
