Gary Lee Powell, age 72, passed away peacefully at his home on Saturday, May 3, 2025, surrounded by his family. He was born in St. Louis, MO, on May 7, 1952, the son of the late Earl and Doris (Boone) Powell.
He lived his early childhood in Hillsboro, IL, graduated from Eastern Illinois University, and went on to receive his Masters in Library Science from UW Milwaukee. He married the love of his life, Paula (Althoff) Powell on May 21, 1988, at St. Marks Church.
Gary taught graphic arts at Zion Benton High School, owned a printing business for a few years, and then made his move to be a school librarian at Forest Park Elementary in Kenosha for 20 years until he retired in 2012.
Gary had a fun, youthful outlook on life. He loved people and made friends everywhere he went – literally in 5 minutes. He had a ready stash of dad jokes to share with whoever wanted to listen and he was always willing to lend a hand to anyone who needed it.
In his younger years he was an avid skydiver and had over 1,300 jumps. He loved kids and thoroughly enjoyed his years teaching – particularly when he got to teach the kids how to build a geodesic dome, a trebuchet, or a host of other creative projects he researched and enjoyed sharing. He loved the game of soccer. He played, coached with KASL, Zion Benton and at Kenosha Tremper. He spent many memorable days driving a van full of kids to and from their games and tournaments. In his later years he loved to sail his boat in Lake Michigan and enjoyed skippering a few races.
Along the way Gary cherished many long-term friendships. His high school friends, fraternity brothers, skydiving crew, the wonderful co-workers at Forest Park, and his sailing friends at the KYC. He was blessed to have had time to connect with many of them over the past few months.
Gary is lovingly remembered by his wife of 36 years, Paula; sons, Adam (Taylor) Powell and Andrew Powell; his beautiful grandchildren, Theodore and Emma; and his brother, Earl (Lydia) Powell.
Along with his parents, Gary was preceded in death by his sister, Lorrie Powell.
Thank you to the fabulous team at the Carbone Cancer Center in Madison, Hospice Alliance for their exceptional family support, and to his many doctors at Aurora for their kind care over the past months.
Gary did not want a somber service. He asked that people remember him with a smile. A celebration of life will be on May 31, 2025, from 1-4pm at the Kenosha Yacht Club 5130 – 4th Ave. Consider donations to your favorite Cancer Research organization or to Hospice Alliance.
