Obituary of Elsie Jeen Powers

Elsie J. Powers, 81, passed away Thursday, June 10, 2021 at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City.  

Funeral service will be held 10 A.M., Tuesday 15, 2021 at the First Church United in West Liberty. Burial will be in the North Prairie Cemetery, West Liberty. Visitation will be Monday from 4 to 7 P.M. at the Henderson-Barker Funeral Home in West Liberty. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.hendersonbarkerfuneralhome.com. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Elsie Powers Memorial Fund.

Elsie was born April 16, 1940 in West Liberty, Iowa the daughter of Marvin and Viola (Lehman) Morrison. She was a 1958 graduate of West Liberty High School. After a short time after high school,she attended Mercy School of Nursing but then spent the next several years raising her family. On April 3, 1960 she was united in marriage to Sam Powers in West Liberty. Over the next several years, Elsie had worked at the Cookie Jar and Coffeetown restaurants in West Liberty as well as babysitting. In 1981 she received her nursing degree and began her career as a long term caregiver; working at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Simpson Home in West Liberty, Wilton Nursing Home and Iowa City Care Center where she served as Assistant Director for several years retiring in 2009. She later attended Pharmacy Tech School and worked for Dreibelbeis Pharmacy and West Liberty Pharmacy several years prior to her second retirement.

She enjoyed playing BINGO, going to the casino, playing board games, working jigsaw puzzles, camping, traveling and in her younger years dancing. She flew to Guam to join her son Jeffery who was in the Navy; there she boarded a naval ship as a part of a program called Dependent Cruise traveling back to the United States making a stop in Hawaii. She frequently talked of this trip as one of her best times. 

Survivors include her three daughters: Virginia (Mark) Exline of Cincinnati, Iowa, Wanda Powers of West Liberty and Chris (Anthony) Madarang of Chula Vista, California, daughter in law: Diane Powers of Valrico, Florida. Grandchildren: Alicia Pearson, Shane (Becca) Exline, Josh (Maddie Lutz) Brockert, Shauna Hargrave, and Heather Powers, Brandi Harris, and Alex, Drake and Bryton Madarang. Great grandchildren: Alyssa Farrell, Caleb Pearson, Jamie Pearson, Alaric Exline, Kinsley Exline, Matthew Brockert, Josh Brockert, Eliza Hargrave Aisha Hargrave and Meru Alexander. Four siblings: Leota Shaw of Peoria,AZ, June (Bob) Olds of Davenport,IA, Ray (Martie) Morrison of Peoria, Arizona and Lewis Morrison of Wilton. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Sam, daughter Mary Jo, son Jeffery, six brothers: Roy, Albert, Bill, Floyd, Harold and Amos, four sisters: Alice Wiese, Ruth Howard and two infant sisters Violet and Helen.