Dr. Darden Powers

POWERS, DR. DARDEN Dr. Darden Powers, 72 of Waco, entered the presence of his beloved Lord Thursday February 24, 2005, at home. Services will be at 2:30pm Saturday, February 26 at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Chapel with the Rev. Ivan Ker and the Rev. Jim Daniels officiating. Burial will follow at Waco Memorial North. Visitation with the family will be from 6-8:30pm Friday, February 25 at the funeral home. Dr. Powers was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, Nov. 15, 1932, to Percy and Irene Matthews Powers and attended grade school there before graduating from Jackson MS High in 1950 and serving in the US Army in Korea from 1951-53, being honorably discharged as a Sergeant First Class. He earned his B.S. in physics at the University of Oklahoma in 1955 with special distinction, his M.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1957, and his Ph.D. in physics from Caltech in 1961. In 1957, Dr. Powers married Patricia Ann Walls in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and was a research assistant at Caltech from 1957-61 before becoming a physics professor and researcher at Baylor University from 1961-2004. While at Baylor, he directed the Van de Graaff Accelerator Laboratory from 1964 to 2005, served as Director of Graduate Studies from 1976-93, Associate Dean of the Graduate Studies and Research from 1985-92, Acting Dean of the Graduate School from 1996-98, Director of Biomedical Studies from 1989-2005, and chairman of the physics department from 1993-2003. Dr. Powers was voted as an Outstanding University Professor in 1984 and served on the Baylor University Faculty Senate from 1986-88. Survivors include his wife Patty, daughter Susan and her husband Larry Breen of Hewitt, and sons John and wife Lisa Powers of Plano, David and wife Shonda Powers, and Peter and wife Christy Powers all of Hewitt, along with grandchildren Kristin and Kevin Breen, Derek and Alyssa Watson, Brandon and Macy Powers, and Kaitlin and Aaron Powers, and his brother Charles and wife Betty of Terry, MS. He was preceded in death by his parents and son James. Dr. Powers invited Jesus Christ into his heart in 1955 and served him faithfully as a Sunday School teacher for nearly 46 years, college and home Bible study leader, and guest speaker at several churches. He was deeply devoted to his family and loved to teach Sunday School and physics until his final illness. Pallbearers will be Rev. James Adams, Charlie Rogers, Larry Wymore, Wade Jarvis, Thurman Cochran, Steve Russell, Richard White and Wickramasinghe Ariyasinghe. Honorary pallbearers will be the physics faculty at Baylor University. Memorials may be made to the physics department at Baylor or Cornerstone Baptist, where Dr. Powers was a member since its founding and taught the auditorium class for 20 years. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our “Memorial Guestbook” at www.wilkirsonhatchbailey.com. WILKIRSON-HATCH-BAILEY