Alma Powell, civic leader and wife of the late Colin Powell, dies at 86

Recognized for her work in empowering youth, Ms. Powell has had a wide range of careers, including radio host, audiologist, and children’s book author, and served on the board of America’s Promise Alliance, which focuses on community engagement, education and workforce development.

She married Powell, then an Army lieutenant, shortly before he left for his first deployment to Vietnam in 1962, according to an obituary shared by Cifrino.

As the wife of a military man, she moved more than twenty times and established a home for their three children – Michael, Linda and Annemarie – in Virginia, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, Colorado, Georgia and Germany.

Mrs. Powell was an active volunteer and was known for helping military families prepare for a move, providing information on how to get settled on the military bases where she had lived. Mrs. Powell was also once a member of the Arlington Ladies, who attend funerals of military personnel at Arlington National Cemetery.

Her husband rose to the rank of general in the Army and eventually became the youngest and first black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1989. He was appointed Secretary of State by President George W. Bush in 2001.

When her husband retired from the military in 1993 and returned to civilian life, Mrs. Powell became more focused on education and improving the lives of children. The couple was instrumental in launching America’s Promise Alliance in 1997, and Mrs. Powell has served on its board of directors, most recently as chair emeritus. She has also written two children’s books in support of the organization’s mission, “America’s Promise” and “My Little Red Wagon,” which are aimed at encouraging children to give back to their communities, according to publisher HarperCollins.

Ms. Powell served on numerous boards and won numerous service awards. From 1989 to 2000, she was chair of the National Council of the Best Friends Foundation, which aims to improve the lives of young girls.

Ms. Powell, who was appointed to the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts during the Bill Clinton presidency, was also selected by President Barack Obama in 2010 to an advisory board for historically black colleges and universities.

She received the first ServiceNation Award for Excellence in Military and Civilian Service in 2009. In 2010, Ms. Powell received a Commonwealth Academy Recognition for Educators award for demonstrating outstanding “leadership in efforts to empower youth, including those struggling with learning differences and ADHD,” according to congressional records.

Alma Vivian Johnson, the eldest of two daughters, was born on October 27, 1937. She left her home in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1953 to study speech and drama at Fisk University in Nashville when she was 16. Her father was the principal of one of Birmingham’s black high schools, and her mother ran a daycare center, according to the obituary Cifrino sent.

When she returned, she took a job as a radio host. Her afternoon show, “Luncheon with Alma,” played music and discussed housekeeping tips.

She was living in Boston, studying pathology and audiology at Emerson College and working as an audiologist for the Boston Guild for the Hard of Hearing when she went on a blind date with Colin Powell in 1961.

Their marriage the following year, at the First Congregational Church in her hometown, prevented her from completing her higher education. Decades later, however, Mrs. Powell received an honorary doctorate from Emerson College. She also received an honorary doctorate in humanities from Shenandoah University.

In 2013, at a luncheon celebrating her 75th birthday and 50th wedding anniversary, Ms. Powell was praised by guests as a role model, a “true Southern lady” and “a woman who speaks her mind,” The Washington Post reported.

Mrs. Powell was known to support her husband during his military career, but she opposed his candidacy for president, The Post reported, and despite pleas from many Republicans, he never did. A few months before his death, The Post asked the former general, “Who was the greatest man, woman or person you ever knew? Not … a leader, not necessarily, but the inner man.”

“It’s Alma Powell,” he said immediately. “She was with me the whole time. We’ve been married 58 years. And she put up with a lot. She took care of the kids when I was, you know, running around. And she was always there for me and she’d say, ‘That’s not a good idea.’ She was usually right.”