A Graveside Funeral service and Interment for Miles T. Powell, Sr. , 97, will be Friday, February 2, 2024 at 11:00 AM at New Salem Cemetery with Bro. Michael Gunter officiating and Peck Funeral Home directing. No visitation is scheduled.
Mr. Powell died on Tuesday, January 30, 2024 at Decatur Morgan Hospital. He was born October 23, 1926, in Morgan County, to Jasper Newton Powell, II and Della Clark Powell.
He was a dedicated husband and father who relentlessly provided for his wife and children and lived by a set of principles and morals rarely practiced in our current times. But by no means did he portend to live a non-flawed life, but none-the-less always advocated for seeking moral purpose. He had a deep passion for the outdoors including hunting, especially waterfowl, dove and pheasant; fishing, especially in Rocky Mountain streams for trout of every variety; and also camping, usually as a means for housing on his outdoor adventures, which almost always included his family or some portion thereof.
Having become enamored by the writings of the late Jack O’Connor as a young man, as well as numerous others in the sporting magazines of the day, including Sports Afield, Outdoor Life and Field & Stream, all of which he was a lifetime subscriber, he fell in love with the Rocky Mountain west; predominantly Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Beginning in 1963, as a young attorney and father, he started planning and taking one-month to six-week long family camping adventures out west during the month of July and sometimes stretching into early-August where the goal was to get as deep into the wilderness as possible and to forget what day it was. Both goals were routinely met with utmost gratification by all on those sacred adventures. These summer excursions numbered in the tens and lasted up through the late-1980’s when he and his wife, Rosemary and his first Grandson, Christopher pulled an Airstream trailer from Decatur to Alaska, spending most of the summer exploring through the Northern Territories and the wilds of Alaska.
Having returned from WWII and majoring in History at The University, prior to starting his Law studies, he also became a voracious lifetime reader of History, specifically pertaining to WWII, and became a self-taught expert on varying aspects of the subject.
All-in-all, he was an intelligent, intense individual; sensitive but realistic, extremely analytical with a gift for seeing the true character of people in short time, always having a soft spot for the common man and denouncing frivolous pursuits of status and ego. He was a mighty fine father, husband and friend to those lucky enough to have him in the orbit of their world. He will eternally be missed, but the love and smiles he gave in this glorious Life will forever be present in all of our remaining lives; especially his children and grandchildren; we are all better people because of him.
He was married to the love of his life, Rosemary Wilber Powell for 71 years.
Survivors include: Son – Miles T. Powell, Jr. (Isabel), Salida, CO, Daughters- Mary Ann Mays (John) Athens and Janet Compton (Tommy) Decatur, Six Grandchildren and Seven Great Grandchildren.
Pallbearers will be John Mays, Tommy Compton, Christopher Washco, Clay Womack and Alex Powell
Family requests memorial donations be made, in lieu of flowers, to VFW Post 4190, Flag Fund or to the Charity of your choice.
Peck Funeral Home
