Nancy Nelson Powe was born in El Paso, Texas to John W. and Kathryn M. Nelson on July 23, 1930 and went home to be with her Lord and Savior on February 23, 2013. She was 82 years old.
Nancy moved with her mother (Kathryn Schale) and sister, Jeanne, to Silver City in November of 1941. She spent many pleasurable and memorable hours at the Y6 Ranch in Mule Creek with her wonderful grandparents and owners of the ranch, Sam F. and Dora C. Means. Mamaw and PappaDaddy, as they were known to her, were especially important in her life. They taught her strong Christian values through their daily testimonies which she always said was instrumental in the development of her own personal values and her greatest passions – her family and her Lord. She attended Paisano Baptist Encampment for several summers as a child with her grandparents, and it was there that she made her profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Nancy graduated from Morenci High School (Arizona) in 1946, and attended Western New Mexico University (then New Mexico State Teachers College) for a time after high school. She returned to Western to complete her degree in accounting in 1980 when her youngest child was in high school.
Nancy had a variety of jobs through the years working first at the American National Bank from 1949-1950 where she met her husband, Robert M. Powe (deceased). She then worked in accounting with Nelson Gray, alongside her husband at the Y6 ranch, part-time at the Chamber of Commerce, doing billing and bookkeeping for Berry Electric, and as a legal secretary for Foy and Vesely. In 1969, Nancy began work at Kennecott Copper Corporation. She held a variety of positions there from secretary in Industrial Engineering to being the plant superintendent’s secretary, then moving to an Environmental Control Engineer position which she held while she completed her college degree. Her final position at (then) Phelps Dodge was as supervisor of the Accounts Payable Department from which she retired in 1993. Nancy was an active member of the Silver City Business and Professional Women’s Club (known as BPW), serving as state president in the early 1980s. Following retirement, she volunteered for about four years at the Gospel Mission and then at Calvary Chapel of Silver City, her home church.
Nancy is preceded in death by her grandparents, her parents, her husband of 59 ½ years (Robert), her older sister (Jeanne Winkles), and one grandchild. She is survived by two sisters (Sharon Kartchner and Sandra Rouse) and her five daughters - Caren Foster, Penny (Carl) Allen, Nancy Nekvasil, Jocelyn Powe, and Robbie (Jody) Poe. She is also survived by 12 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren, and 2 great-great grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Sunday, March 3rd at 3pm at Calvary Chapel of Silver City on Hwy. 90 SW. A private family service will be held the following week at Ft. Bayard National Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Nancy’s six grandsons: Cole Elliott, Jeff Allen, Nate Nekvasil, Sam Nekvasil, Caleb Poe, and Josiah Poe.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to: Calvary Chapel Silver City, Box 29, Silver City, NM 88062; Horizon Hospice, 1260 E. 32nd Str., Silver City, NM 88061; or the Powe Scholarship Fund, Box 785, Silver City, NM 88062. The Powe Scholarship Fund will assist Christian students in earning their college degrees.