Chief Petty Officer Samuel Powell Jr., USN (Ret.)

1916 - 2016

Navy Chief Petty Officer Samuel Powell, Jr.

Goldsboro

Chief Petty Officer Samuel Powell, Jr. USN(Ret.), passed away early Friday, November 4, 2016 in Goldsboro, NC. He was 100 years old. He was born February 25, 1916 on the family farm in the Swift Creek Community near Whitakers, NC. His parents were the late Samuel Powell, Sr. and the late Tempie Brake Powell. He was the step-son of the late Fannie Alston Powell.

The family will receive friends on Wednesday, November 9, 2016 from 8:30 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. at Howell Funeral Home and Crematory in Goldsboro. A graveside service with full military honors will follow at Eastern Carolina State Veterans Cemetery in Goldsboro at 2:00 p.m.

He is survived by his wife, Betty Adams Powell, one step-daughter, Beverly Adams Steakin, several step grandchildren and step great grandchildren. He is also survived by two sisters; Susie R. Powell and her husband Franklin D. Anderson of Chapel Hill, NC, Journalist First Class Sharon Denise Powell USN (Ret.) and her partner, David L. Baffoni, of Raleigh, NC; and two brothers, Charles Stanley Powell of Durham, NC and Paul D. Powell and his wife Vanessa Powell of Whitakers, NC. He also leaves to mourn his loss a huge extended family of nieces, nephews, and great-great nieces and nephews.

In 1937 Samuel, Jr. enlisted in the United States Navy as a ship's stewards mate. His first brush with danger was on December 7, 1941 when as a 25-year-old Steward's Mate First Class, he witnessed the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. When Japanese planes targeted his ship, the light cruiser USS Helena (CL-50), Samuel Jr., helped to defend his ship.

His next brush with danger was in 1943 during the Battle of the Kula Gulf, an island near Midway Island in the Pacific. Helena was hit by a Japanese torpedo forcing Samuel and the rest of Helena's crew to abandon ship.

After his rescue, he was assigned to the attack transport ship, USS Fremont (APA 44). Fremont arrived off the island of Iwo Jima February 19,1945 for the bloody invasion of Iwo Jima.

After retiring from the Navy in 1959, Samuel, Jr., settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, NY and went to work for the US Postal Service. He moved back to North Carolina in 1999.