By Dave Andrusko
Within the National Right to Life family, few are revered for their courage and fortitude and uncommon good nature as Robert Powell.
NRLC’s Powell Center for Medical Ethics is dedicated to the memory of this longtime NRLC Vice President, a Texan with a disability who served as a pro-life champion in leading the struggle to protect the lives of people with disabilities and older people from euthanasia. Robert passed away in 1995 but the plaque outside the Powell Center is a constant reminder of how The Center serves as NRLC’s arm in fighting to protect the vulnerable born from direct killing and denial of lifesaving medical treatment, food and fluids.
We received a message from Robert’s sister that their beloved mother, Agnes Powell, had passed away. She’d turned 101 in May.
Robert was 5 months old when his parents noticed his inability to bear weight on his legs. Diagnostic x-rays showed a mass in Powell’s chest. The surgery that followed revealed that the cancerous tumor in his chest had consumed his right lung and had become attached to his spinal cord causing permanent paraplegia.
In an autobiographical article, Mr. Powell wrote, “[The doctors] told my parents, ‘he is not going to live, we’re not going to do anything. Just take him home to die.’ Powell’s parents refused to allow their son to die and began searching for a physician to treat him. While others felt his life was not worth saving, a physician who was himself paraplegic agreed to treat Powell with then-experimental radiation therapy.
Robert bore his many medical burdens with grace, dignity, a ready smile, and a quick wit. And he would tell you that he had been greatly blessed to have the kind of caring, faithful parents he did.
Rest in Peace, Agnes Powell.
The visitation and Rosary will be this Thursday at the Malloy & Son Funeral Home, 3028 Broadway, Galveston, TX, 77550.
The funeral will be Friday at Sacred Heart Church, 1302 Broadway Street, Galveston, TX 77550.