February 2, 2010
By Media Relations Director Randy Meline:
Lamoni, IA-Who could imagine a time at Graceland University without Tom Powell? He was an indelible marker of the daily fabric of life on "the Hill," much like the beautiful lilacs gracing his view out his MSC office window each spring. Who could imagine Graceland without Tom? And yet, he is gone. He succumbed to cancer last week at age 58. A memorial service was held Monday, February 1 on campus. We are caught off guard by the suddenness of his death.
No one loved and cherished friendships with Graceland students more than Tom Powell. He was their Dean of Students, and so much more. He was their thoughtful guide through the difficult yet rewarding college years when Graceland promises nurturing and growth and transformation to meaningful adulthood. Tom and his dedicated team of caring professionals in Student Life made good on that promise, one student at a time.
Tom humbly (you can't emphasize the word humble strongly enough) personified the goals and dreams of the institution he served for 30 years. Many students thought of Tom as the person who runs Graceland. Many graduates proclaimed him as the one who made the big difference in their lives, the reason they succeeded and are happy. Faculty and staff were his friends, his ‘brothers,' his trusted colleagues, his buddies. He meant something very special and unique to everyone he knew.
He had a great sense of humor. There was an ever-present smile on his face as he joyfully went about his daily routine of attending as many student activities and events as possible, great or small. He called it his "ministry of presence." He said there was nothing more powerful than ‘being there' for the students to demonstrate that you were interested, that you were proud of their goals and accomplishments. As Dean of Students, Tom had seen it all over the years, but he called every day a "fresh new experience."
At 27 years he was the longest-serving Dean of Students at any university in Iowa. He was a 1973 graduate of Graceland, where he had a phenomenal four years as a standout athlete in football and especially baseball. He was a tremendous catcher and one of the top college hitters of his time. He won the Rawlings Big Stick award, honoring the greatest batter in the NAIA. He is enshrined in Graceland's athletic Hall of Fame.
Each year at Baccalaureate it was a joy to see Tom present the annual Student Life Award(s). The beaming smile on his face was a picture worth a thousand words about his love for Graceland students. Tom won the award at his 1973 graduation.
Tom had a phenomenal run as a football and baseball coach at Fairview High School in Boulder, CO. His teams posted a 69-8-1 record in football and two state championships, and a 228-61 record in baseball and a state championship. He returned to Graceland to coach in 1980. He became Dean of Students in 1982, then VP for Student Life, and he served as Athletic Director for 20 years. He was much-loved and respected by his coaches and the thousands of athletes who competed for Graceland over the decades.
Over those decades Tom helped transform the Graceland landscape with innovations like Choices, our alternative night spot for students located below the Coliseum Theatre. He used "positive norming" to show non-drinking students they were part of the majority, not the minority. He helped create the LEAD Program, Enter.NetC@fe, Final Fling and the CAP Center, just to name a few major accomplishments. His sure hand guided residence life, student activities, the CAP Center, athletics, campus ministries, international students' programs, health services, food services, student government, intramurals, major student events, community service work, happenings on and off campus...the list goes on. He shepherded this team with fatherly pride. Tom's office was the busiest place on campus.
For many years Tom accompanied a group of Graceland colleagues and students on Winter Terms to Honduras. They built houses, an elementary school, developed a water project, built a community center, and other good works. He loved to watch as students were transformed during these missions of help and hope. "Their eyes opened to the great need," he once said, "their work ethic kicked in and the result was nothing short of miraculous." A recent GU alumnus said Tom went beyond any expectation a student might have had for a Dean of Students. The alumnus said Tom taught him about life, how to be a good professional for sure, but most of all how to be a good person. Tom Powell truly cared about and touched the lives of those who crossed his path.
Tom kept his personal life pretty much to himself. We knew that he was fighting a particularly insidious form of cancer, but he sequestered the details to himself, family and close friends. We watched as he grew weaker, but also clung to the hope that treatment would prevail, that our marker of daily life at Graceland would always be here. We watched in awe as he carried on his labors of love as Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Life, even as we knew that the cancer and treatments were depleting his energy.
And now, we will carry on in his absence, striving to emulate the joie de vivre he lived by and played by and loved by. So long Tom, from the many thousands of students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends who have loved you and will remember you always.
If you would like to send a card or note to Tom's family, they can be directed to Christi Dickerson, Tom's devoted Administrative Assistant, at the Student Life Office, Graceland University, 1 University Place, Lamoni, IA 50140. Christi will forward these to the family.
There is a scene in the Frank Capra film, Talk of the Town, when Ronald Colman has just been appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court and his life-long friend, with a tear in his eye, calls him "Mr. Justice." It seems wholly appropriate today for those who loved him, with a tear in their eyes, to remember Tom Powell as "Mr. Graceland."
For More Information on Graceland University Athletics Contact: Matt Shelton, Sports Information Director (641) 784-5318 mshelton@graceland.edu
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