- Date Of Birth: November 23, 1927
- Date Of Death: August 1, 2015
- State: Michigan
Kenneth H Powers, age 87 passed into Glory on Saturday August 1, 2015. Ken was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan on November 23, 1927, a son of Carl and Beulah (Vedmore) Powers. He lived in Kalamazoo and Portage his entire life. Ken was very active in his school years, lettering in basketball and softball at Kalamazoo Central. He also enjoyed bowling and golf and was on various leagues throughout his life.
When he was 16 he got permission from his parents to join the Navy – he served in WWII and in the Korean Conflict, earning a few medals that he never spoke of. On July 26, 1948 he married the love of his life, Marilyn Stoyanoff and they had 66 ½ years together. She passed away on January 5, 2015. He was also preceded in death by his parents; two sisters, Muriel Wooden Oleneack and Dorothy Vette; two brothers, Kermit Powers and Bernard Powers; and two half-brothers, Don Powers and Fred Powers.
Surviving are four children and their spouses: Richard (Lan) Powers, John (Kathy) Powers, Catharina (David) Holmes and Dennis (Bonnie) Powers; grandchildren, Sally Powers, Michael Powers, T.J. Hunt, Chris Hunt, John Powers II, Kristy Breseman, Randy Holmes, Eric Holmes, Bartholomew Powers, and Chelsey Labrie, Clint Gould and Gabe Gould; many great-grandchildren, step-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren; a brother-in-law, Merl (Beverly) Stoyanoff; and many nieces and nephews. Ken worked for various companies throughout his life. He started off at Gibson’s and then Sutherland Paper Mill.
Returning from the service, he worked for many years with his brother Kermit at The North Pole in Kalamazoo. He then worked many years at Upjohn before retiring. Ken and Marilyn loved to travel and made a few trips to Maine and across the United States and Hawaii. They took an amazing sailing trip with Al and Joyce Daane and Kermit and Maxine Powers, where they helped sail the boat to the Bahamas.
They also loved Vegas and enjoyed a few trips to the various casinos in Michigan. He then decided retirement was not for him and went back to work part-time at Pharmacia. Never liking to be idle, he kept busy working, golfing, gambling and ultimately caring for his bride until she passed in January.
