Dot Powell

Dot Powell moved to Newton County in 1974 and in 1985 transferred her letter from Martha Brown Methodist Church in East Atlanta to Allen Memorial. She married Spencer DeFoor in 1954. He retired as a Final Inspector in Quality Control from Ford Motor Company after 26 years. They were married for 28 years before his death in 1982.

Dot remarried in 1993 to Dr. Fincher (Bill) Powell, a cardiologist with Family Practice located in Decatur. Dr. Powell helped start Dekalb Medical Center and at one time was Medical Director there. He attended Allen Memorial UMC, and he and Dot were married for five years before his death in 1998. They were married in the chapel at Allen Memorial by Pastor Amy Morgan. Dot was a Charter member of the Richard Hunter Sunday school class. She is also a member of the Susie B. Stone Circle. In addition, she has been and remains active in Young at Heart.

Dot graduated from UGA with a major in Biology. She worked the entire time from her graduation until she turned 70 years old. She feels privileged to have had the job opportunities she was able to experience. She has loved her work. After graduation she worked for the Dean of the Graduate School at UGA, and later worked for Lawson General Army Hospital doing clinical lab work. Dot also worked for Hines Roberts, a pediatrician in Atlanta, for 15 years. She worked for Georgia Tech twelve years in the experiment station measuring the effects of botulism or food poisoning. In addition, she was sent to Antarctica to study bacteria from cores in the ocean sediment. She was there for three months. Dot retired at the age of 70, after working for over 13 years for Heinz, later called Pet Inc., later called Pillsbury, and eventually called General Mills.

Since suffering a stroke in 2009, Dot has lived in assisted living. Since retiring, Dot has loved to travel, mostly visiting her relatives and friends. She enjoys gardening, especially growing flowers, tomatoes, and azaleas on her 6 acres of land. She loves photography, particularly nature scenes. She has also embroidered a lot and has enjoyed crewel; Dot is very proud of her Tree of Life.

Dot is most proud of her kinfolk and family and of their accomplishments. She loves Dr. Powell’s daughter, Alice Brice, and her family who live in South Carolina. She has nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews and she “just loves them to death.” They are all fine upstanding people. She really misses traveling and hates to be away from everybody. Dot has always been very outgoing and friendly. She has the gift of being able to talk to anybody and make them feel at ease.