Naomi Riddick Powell

MIDDLESEX - Naomi Riddick Powell of Middlesex passed away on Sunday, August 21st, the day before her ninety-sixth birthday, in Springfield, Virginia. Funeral services will be conducted 2:00 p.m. Thursday at Middlesex Baptist Church. Interment will follow in Hollywood Cemetery, Middlesex. The Rev. Steve McCart will officiate.
The family will receive friends 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at Joyner's Funeral Home, 4100 Raleigh Road Parkway, Wilson.
Born in 1915 to Nathaniel Jones and Jayney Martin Riddick at Merchants Mill, North Carolina, Naomi grew up in Gatesville, one of eight siblings. She graduated from Gatesville High School and East Carolina Teachers' College and began her 67 year career as an educator in Hobbsville. She taught in Rocky Mount where she met and married William F. Powell of Middlesex. After their move to Middlesex, she taught at Ferrells Elementary School for two years and at Middlesex Elementary School for twenty-eight years. Retirement did not remove her from the field of education for she continued to substitute at Middlesex School and Southern Nash Middle School until 2005. One of her great post-retirement joys was serving as a chaperone for the European student trips organized by her niece Patricia Powell Biggers. Beta Theta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Education Honorary invited her into their membership in 1959. She was also a member of Middlesex Baptist Church where she taught Sunday School and was an ordained deacon. Always active in her community, Naomi was instrumental in the establishment of the Middlesex Public Library, the Middlesex Ladies' Investment Club, and the Powell Memorial Clinic. She was elected to the Middlesex Board of Commissioners serving as Police Commissioner from 1991 until 1995. and as Parks and Recreation Commissioner from 1995 until 1999. After the death of her husband in 1990, she served as the managing partner of Powell Farms until 2005.
She is survived by her daughter, Shirley Powell Gustafson, her grandson, William Powell Gustafson (Suzanne), and one great-grandson, Henry Brooks Gustafson, all of Alexandria, Va.; her granddaughter, Julia L. Gustafson of Washington D.C.; her sister-in-law, Louise Shearin Riddick of Rocky Mount; and many Riddick and Powell nieces and nephews.
Naomi was pre-deceased by her husband and all seven of her siblings as well as her son-in law, Lawrence C. Gustafson.
In lieu of flowers, the family will appreciate memorial contributions made to the Nash Health Care Foundation, 2416 Professional Dr. Rocky Mount, NC 27804-2237, the Middlesex Fire Department, PO Box 333, Middlesex, NC 27557, the Middlesex Public Library, PO Box 612, Middlesex, NC 27557, or the Middlesex Baptist Church PO Box 446, Middlesex, NC 27557.
Condolences may be directed to www.joyners.net.