Obituaries

Emily Alice McWhirt Powell of Williamsburg died Thursday, August 21, 2025, after a brief illness. She was 85.

Emily was a proud native of Spotsylvania County, where she often recalled an idyllic childhood spent wandering across the fields and farms and reveling in her extended family, all of whom lived nearby.

She spoke fondly of her devoted father, Arthur Douglas McWhirt, a towering presence in her life and the lives of many others in the community. She remembered her mother, Lucy Pritchett McWhirt, as a whirlwind of energy who managed a menagerie of friends, relatives, and neighbors. Both preceded her in death, along with her sister, Ellen Douglas McWhirt.

Emily attended Spotsylvania High School, where she was an excellent student, basketball team manager, and member of the varsity field hockey team. As a midfielder on the team, she spoke of having to “run up and down the whole game,” an experience she declined to repeat at the college level.

She graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1961, where she majored in history and joined Gamma Phi Beta sorority. At William and Mary, she met her devoted husband of 64 years, Malvern Lee Powell Jr., who survives her. Emily and Mal enjoyed decades of antiquing and were enthusiastic members of several flea markets, where they plied their considerable talents in finding bargains of valuable items and selling them to eager customers.

A prolific letter-writer, Emily kept in contact with a seemingly endless array of relatives and friends, including her English cousins, whom she was able to visit during a trip to England in 1990. She was passionate about history, family, genealogy, and gardening.

Emily taught high school history before retiring to raise her children, Elizabeth (Betsy) Lee Powell Mullen and Malvern Douglas (Doug) Powell, who survive her. Among Emily’s many endearing quirks was a love for peanut butter, which she consumed daily in great quantities on white bread and washed down with a Diet Coke or Pepsi.

In addition to her husband and children, Emily is survived by her son-in-law, Tom Mullen; seven grandchildren, Matthew (Katrina), Mary Grace, Andrew, and Ally Mullen, and Caroline, Catherine, and Corinne Powell; and three great-grandchildren, Brooklyn, Emmy, and Luc Mullen, all of whom affectionately called her “Mickey.”

The family would like to thank Trinity Hospice and Shawn Taliaferro for the amazing care and comfort they provided in her final days.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church at 372 Hiden Boulevard, Newport News, VA 23606, or your favorite charity.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, September 19, at 2 p.m. at Williamsburg Landing, 5700 Williamsburg Landing Drive, followed by a reception.