Leila Lowrey Power

Leila Lowrey Power, a retired Presbyterian minister, died peacefully on December 31, 2015 at her home in Austin, Texas. Lee was born February 14, 1940 in Honolulu, Hawaii. She attended Punahou School before moving to the mainland for college, graduating from Northwestern University in 1962. After marrying John Dale Power, Jr. and starting her family, Lee moved from Chicago to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where she and John launched and ran the area's first McDonald's franchises. While in Fayetteville, Lee served her church as a Christian education director. Determined to become a pastor, she later attended Austin Theological Seminary, where she received a Master of Divinity degree in 1981 and eventually served on the Seminary's Board of Trustees. Lee was a pioneer for women in the ministry. After finishing seminary, she served as an associate pastor in Arlington, Texas and earned a Master of Theology degree from Texas Christian University before pastoring churches in Batesville, Arkansas and Bixby, Oklahoma. After retiring from Trinity Presbyterian Church in Bixby, Lee returned to Fayetteville to be near family and before long took on the role of parish associate at First United Presbyterian Church, where she had been a member before going to seminary. In 2013, facing health challenges, Lee moved to Austin and was quickly called into service once again, this time as a parish associate at Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church, with a special focus on the residents of Querencia, the retirement community where she lived. Lee was fiercely independent, had a gracious spirit, and faithfully served God. She touched many lives and made great friends wherever the Lord called her. She loved Hawaii, her family property in Maine, and spending time with her grandchildren, who were blessed to call her Nana. Lee was preceded in death by her parents, Dwight and Margaret Lowrey of Honolulu. She is survived by her children, Dwight Power and his wife Debbie, of Fayetteville; Julie Power Smith and her husband Todd, of Austin; and Mark Power and his wife Corinne, of Fayetteville; her six grandchildren; and her three siblings, Dwight Lowrey and Russell Lowrey, both of Honolulu, and Jean Weigle of Richmond, Indiana. Memorial services will be held at 1 p.m. on January 7 at Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church in Austin and at 2 p.m. on January 12 at First United Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville. A private graveside service will be held on March 19 in Honolulu. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Leila Power Education Endowment Scholarship, care of First United Presbyterian Church, 695 East Calvin Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72703. Arrangements by Weed-Corley-Fish Lake Travis (512) 263-1511. Obituary and memorial guestbook available online at www.wcfish.com.