Susan Powell Laid to Rest

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Tuesday, 12 March 2013 02:30

By Delana Isles

Antigua St. John's - Susan Powell, mother or five and devoted church goer, was yesterday laid to rest at the St John’s Public Cemetery on Friar’s Hill Road following a very emotional service at the Central Baptist Church.

The church and grounds of the Radio Range building were filled to capacity with relatives, friends, and a number of Parliamentary representatives following an early viewing of the body.

Leading the early afternoon service off on a sombre note with a number of moving pan and choral selections was the ECMB Circuit Steelband and the Baptist Academy of Antigua.

The slain woman’s daughter, Christine Powell, recounted memories of her mother and two musical renditions - one performed by Dr Hensworth Jonas, which he said had been Powell’s favourite song, and another by the Jennings Secondary School.

Delivering an emotion-packed eulogy, Toshaa Hope, Powell’s brother, extended the family’s appreciation to the deceased woman’s friends, church, and work colleagues for the love and support they have shown the family since her death.

“It is with great sadness that I stand before you today. When my sister Susan passed away unexpectedly, it was devastating and I immediately began making plans to travel from Atlanta, Georgia to be at her home-going service,” he said. “I can still picture my happy, fun-loving sister who loved to dance and sing along with the contemporary singers of her day.”

Hope recalled his older sister’s devotion to her children - Ashley, Malcolm, Christine, and Shania, and her step-daughter Whitney – and her commitment to her husband and other family members.

Powell also devoted her time to serving as an usher for her church and a teacher’s aide at the Baptist Academy of Antigua, her brother recalled.

“The greatest tribute that can be given to my dear sister is for everyone to do whatever they can to see that her children continue in the spiritual and academic choices that she had made for them,” he said. “She was very focused in her commitment to their development and would no doubt want this to be the priority.”

Dr Hensworth Jonas of the ECBM delivered an impassioned sermon to the gathered mourners, questioning and laying out the foundation for grief in a sermon titled “How do you grieve?”

Powell’s life was snuffed out when a gun-toting man entered the First Gadget store at Heritage Quay on February 26 and shot and killed her.

The police have not made any arrests so far, and the $50,000 bounty for anyone with information leading to a successful prosecution of the killer is still being offered.

The 38-year-old mother is survived by her children, her husband, brothers, sisters, relatives, numerous friends, and a nation still in shock at the senseless and brutal crime which took her life.

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