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1939
2019
(News story) Michael L. Powder, a former executive director of the Jewish Community Center who had a business in which he helped clients with tax returns - and represented them to the IRS - died Wednesday in ProMedica Flower Hospital. He was 80.
He was in ill health for several years, son Scott said.
Mr. Powder of Sylvania Township never retired, technically, his son said.
"He maintained a small base of clients for whom he was providing tax representation service to the IRS," his son said. "He liked helping people. He had skills in this particular area, and he wanted to help the people he helped for so long."
His tax business grew out of the bookkeeping he did for small businesses. He in turn often helped with those businesses' tax returns and later became a enrolled agent qualified to deal with the Internal Revenue Service on behalf of his clients.
"He loved solving problems for people, and he loved being an expert in his field and someone who was consulted for thorny and complicated problems," his son said.
He negotiated settlements with the IRS, and he pointed out where the government had mistakenly assessed taxes or penalties. In 1999, Mr. Powder was elected to the board of the Ohio State Society of Enrolled Agents as the director at large.
For much of Mr. Powder's early career, he worked in the family firm, B&J Vending. He oversaw the accounting and, given the nature of the business, kept track of every cent.
"They had bags of pennies and nickels and dimes around all the time," his son said. In the small office, he also had a role in operations and supervised driver routes.
He'd been president of B&J Vending in 1985 when he was named executive director of the Jewish Community Center. He was president of the board four years earlier as a volunteer. Originally in central Toledo and then in the Old West End, the JCC had moved to Sylvania Township in the mid-1970s. To Mr. Powder, the center was more than a recreational facility.
"I grew up here at the center, and my kids grew up at the center," Mr. Powder told The Blade in 1990. "It offered me a feeling of belonging and I learned teamwork and what it meant to be successful. It gave me a place to go that was fun."
He liked to travel - with his wife and other couples or, for years, with a group of three other men to Las Vegas.
"He was best described as a lovable curmudgeon. He loved to prank his friends," longtime friend Randy Auslander said. Another friend Barry Himmel added: "Mike was a character, truly a character."
Friends knew, Mr. Powder's son said, "the more he liked you, the more he played practical jokes on you."
He was a member of The Temple-Congregation Shomer Emunim, Sylvania Township.
He and the former Susan Nichols married Feb. 3, 1963. She died Feb. 1, 2016.
Surviving are his sons, Scott and Jeremy Powder, and two granddaughters.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Sunday in Robert H. Wick/?Wisniewski Funeral Home.
The family suggests tributes to Advocate Charitable Foundation, Downers Grove, Ill., or advocategiving.org.
This is a news story by Mark Zaborney. Contact him at [email protected] or 419-724-6182.
5 Entries
Our Condolences, I have fond memories of Mike from Sylvania Rotary. So sorry we just fond out today! We were out of the country in August.
David and Karin Walker
David
September 27, 2019
SO VERY SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT THE LOSS OF AN OUTSTANDING PERSON, MIKE, REST IN PEACE.
DR MICHAEL L. FRIEDMAN, Ph.D.
August 14, 2019
A really good guy, gone too soon. Knew him best in our youth and high school. Sad news of his passing.
Norman Schwartz
August 14, 2019
Our condolences to the Powder family. Many warm experiences with Mike thru the years. What an upbeat guy. May G-d give the family strength during this time of sorrow. Brent and Ricki Rubin and family
Brent Rubin
August 12, 2019
Dearest Mike, I remember you giving me rides to Scott in your old ford.... and are little chats on rides... You will be missed by all that knew you.. Rest in Gods Arms.. Mike until we meet again..Linda Kerr (Bassett)
Linda Kerr Bassett
August 8, 2019
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Thomas I. Wisniewski Funeral Home, Inc.2426 N. Reynolds Rd., Toledo, OH 43615
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