Salem.....

J. Donald Powers, 80

J. Donald "Don" Powers, age 80 of Salem, who shared 53 years of marriage with his loving wife Rosamond (Coleman) Powers, died peacefully at Massachusetts General Hospital on Saturday, July 17th, surrounded by his loving family.

Born in Salem, the son of the late John T. Powers and Mary (Healey) Powers, Don was a lifelong resident of Salem and a communicant at the Immaculate Conception church in Salem, MA. Don was a graduate of Salem High School's class of 1946. He continued his education at Northeastern University in Boston where he graduated in 1951 with a B.S. in Business Administration.

Don proudly served his country during the Korean War as a member of the U.S. Army's Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC). During the war, he spent a large part of his deployment in Japan.

Don began his career with GTE Sylvania while a co-op student at Northeastern University. He spent 43 years with GTE Sylvania working in various director/managerial roles for the Marketing Research group. Long after retirement, Don remained an active member in Sylvania's Quarter Century Club.

Don was a huge sports fan and enjoyed following all of the professional Boston sports teams. Don also greatly enjoyed collegiate sports and kept tabs on the local high school sports scene. He coached Salem Youth Hockey when his sons were playing and cherished watching his grandchildren play field hockey, track, soccer and baseball.

Don had a life-long passion for learning; during his retirement he was a member of the Salem State Navigators where he enjoyed classes in Opera, History and French. To further satisfy his thirst for knowledge, Don also was a voracious reader of both fiction and non-fiction novels and an avowed electronic media 'newshound'.

Don also had a life-long passion for music. He enjoyed listening to Jazz and Big Band and Bossa Nova. Don and his wife, Roz loved to travel. This included many exotic cruises and several trips to Europe over the years – they both shared a love and fascination with the history, architecture, fine arts and the natural beauty of Europe.

Don, Roz and their family were longtime residents of Salem Willows where they were proud members of the Juniper Community Club. Don and Roz enjoyed entertaining large gatherings of family and friends at the annual Fourth of July celebration held at their home.

In addition to Roz, Don was the loving father of John Powers and daughter-in-law Tricia Powers of Salem, Kathleen Powers of Salem, David Powers and his wife Patricia of Danvers, Anne Powers of Salem and Elizabeth Powers of Lynn; Loving brother of Robert Powers and his wife Gladys Powers of Peabody; Loving grandfather of Sean Powers of Salem, Meghan, Michael and Brian Powers of Danvers; Brother-in-law of George Coleman and his wife Marie Coleman of Naples, FL and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
He was predeceased by a sister-in-law Dorothy Pierce and her husband the late Robert Pierce.

His funeral will be held on Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 9:15 AM from the Murphy Funeral Home, 85 Federal St., (cor of North St) Salem to be followed by a funeral Mass at 10:00AM in the Immaculate Conception Church, 15 Hawthorne Blvd, Salem. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Visiting hours will be Wednesday from 4:00PM to 8:00 PM. Interment will be in St. Mary's Cemetery, Salem.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Stoeckle Center for Primary Care Innovation Fund at Mass General Hospital, which will benefit Primary Care Medicine at Mass General, c/o MGH Development Office, 165 Cambridge Street, 6th Floor Boston, MA 02114. For online guest book or additional information please call 978 744 0497 or visit www.MurphyFuneralHome.com.