KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – It’s not everyday that somebody turns 100 years old. And not everybody is able to boast such an accomplishment.
Long-time Kalamazoo resident Emma Powell was born in Brook Haven, Mississippi in April of 1923, and relocated to Kalamazoo between 1954 and 1955. She remembers living through the Great Depression in the Jim Crow south as she called it, facing discrimination in her home state, but said, “You get used to it.”
Powell was able to attend school only to 8th grade in her hometown and had to venture into the city for her higher education. An avid sports fan who liked to play basketball, she recalled the difficulty of going to school having to borrow books from a neighbor. Unfortunately, she did not graduate high school.
Being part of an extended family of six brothers and six sisters, Powell has many fond memories of her grandparents, along with some not-so-fond ones of her father passing away when she was a child, while her mother was pregnant.
During her time in Kalamazoo, Powell worked as a supervisor at Kalamazoo’s Bronson Hospital in it’s Dietary Department. She retired at the age of 62 from the Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital after 27 years of service.
A long-time member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Kalamazoo, Powell describes herself as “kind, humble, hardworking.” She also stays active in the community and attends the Ecumenical Senior Center daily where she interacts socially with other seniors and staff, making herself an inspiration to all those she comes into contact with.
And she’s eager to share these life lessons: “Not everyone will agree with you so you learn to accept that and not fight it. Guide them when teaching, do not simply tell them what to do. And get Up and do something!”
A birthday celebration for Powell will take place today, Friday, April 14 at the Ecumenical Senior Center at 702 North Burdick Street in Kalamazoo from 1 to 2 p.m.
She plans to travel to her hometown of Brook Haven Mississippi to celebrate her actual birthday on April 19th.
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