Charles E. Powell

Charles Everett Powell, 75, of Idaho Falls, peacefully passed away on September 22, 2017 at Life Care Center in Idaho Falls after a year and a half struggle following a debilitating stroke.

Charles was born on February 2, 1942, in Jacksonville, Florida to Mary Powell. He grew up in St. Marys, Georgia and graduated from Camden County High School in St. Marys in 1960.

After high school, he attended Brigham Young University and served an LDS mission in the Northern California Mission. He graduated from BYU with a Bachelor’s degree in French with a minor in history.

After college, he moved back to Georgia to teach French. He also worked at Spiegel catalog company in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1996, after moving to Idaho Falls, he began working for Melaleuca. He worked there in customer sales for 15 years until he retired in 2011.

After being a bachelor for many years, Charles married Bonniejean George, a widow with three children, in 1996 in Idaho Falls. They were happily married for 21 years.

He was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints where he served in many different callings and often sang in the ward and stake choirs.

Charles was full of life and made everyone around him smile and laugh with his jokes and silly antics. He enjoyed family history and devoted many hours to this work. He loved attending the Scottish Festival games every year which for him was a celebration of his Scottish ancestry. Charles loved learning his whole life. He attended “Friends for Learning” classes for several years where he enjoyed learning the Greek language and learning about other religions. Most of all though Charles loved spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren.
Charles was preceded in death by his mother and siblings.

Charles is survived by his spouse Bonniejean of Idaho Falls; his stepchildren Heidi (David) Pyrah of Shelley; Merle (Bethany) George of Idaho Falls; April (Bryan) Cole of Shelley; and his grandchildren Michael Pyrah, Laura Pyrah, Jesse Pyrah, Amber Pyrah, Kiera George, and Rebecca Cole.

A memorial service will be held at the Sandcreek ward LDS church building 1101 East 1250 North, Shelley, Idaho, at 11:00 am Wednesday, September 27th, with a viewing from 9:30-10:40 before the service. A viewing will also be held at Nalder funeral home 110 W Oak St, Shelley, ID from 6:00-7:30pm on Tuesday, September 26th. Burial will be at the Taylor Cemetery following the memorial service.

The family would like to give a very special thank you to Dr. Wallace Baker and the staff at Life Care for taking such good care of Charles during his time there.