SKOWHEGAN – Joanne Carol (Mullen) Powell of Skowhegan passed away surrounded by family and friends on Jan. 3, 2017 at Maine Medical Center in Portland after fighting a difficult illness.
Born on Dec. 14, 1960, in Waterville, she has joined her mother Sandra (Shaw) Mullen and her beloved cat Emma on the other side of the rainbow.
Though she struggled with disabilities for much of her life, she poured her heart and soul into everything she did, from graduating valedictorian of Oakland Christian School in 1979, to cooking her perfect pot of mac ‘n cheese, to earning the high score in Frogger.
More than anything else, she loved her children, sharing with them the important things in life: Pac-Man, Pinball, The Wizard of Oz, Def Leppard, and the proper Christmas gift wrapping technique.
She was the consummate peacemaker, resolving children’s disputes over dart guns and secret clubhouses, or more-grown up misunderstandings between neighbors.
Always a proud mother, she cheered on her sons as they performed in school plays, learned to play guitar, graduated college, and joined the Army. Her kindness and fighting spirit live on in her son Walter and his wife Michelle and her grandsons Aiden, Benjamin and Jackson, her son Stephen Phillips and his wife Elisabeth Marie and her grand-dogs Belle and Eloise-Rose. She will also be missed by her father Herbert Mullen of Boothbay, her three sisters Dawn Simmons of Boothbay, Valerie Higgins of New Gloucester, and Maxine Mullen-Roy of Boothbay, her boyfriend of several years, Dwayne Oudkerk-Pickett of Skowhegan, and her favorite person and truest companion, Nancy Holt of Skowhegan.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the National Alliance for Mental Illness at NAMI, PO Box 62596, Baltimore, MD 21264-2596. Donations can also be made online at www.nami.org.
Services will be held at the convenience of the family.
Arrangements under the care and direction of Dan & Scott’s Cremation & Funeral Service, 445 Waterville Road, Skowhegan.
