Friends and neighbors are remembering Dr. June Powell, a Benton County native with deep Chalybeate roots who became one of the first women to earn a medical degree from the University of Mississippi. Powell, a psychiatrist whose career spanned about 55 years, died Aug. 23 in Tampa, Florida, at age 83. A celebration of her life is set for this Saturday, Oct. 17.
The Southern Sentinel published a tribute this week recognizing the people she helped over her career and the doors she opened for women in medicine.
Dr. June Powell’s Local Roots
According to her obituary from McBride Funeral Home, June Annette Powell was born Feb. 4, 1943, in the Hopewell community of Benton County, at the home of her maternal grandparents, Frank Leslie and Ammie Daniel Hines. Her parents were William Guy Powell and Alva Hines Powell. Her paternal grandparents, Hicks and Mary Drewry Powell, lived in Chalybeate, and her obituary describes Hopewell and Chalybeate as the rural communities that remained part of her foundation throughout her life.
She was valedictorian of Independence High School in 1960, went on to Northwest Mississippi Junior College, and earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Mississippi in 1964.
Breaking Barriers in Medicine
Powell was one of the first five women admitted to the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, and she was the only woman in the class of 1968. After a rotating internship, she practiced family and emergency medicine in Wyoming and Georgia before turning to psychiatry.
She completed her psychiatry residency at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University and North Carolina Baptist Hospital in 1978, finishing as chief resident, and later earned certification from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
Her career highlights, according to her obituary, included:
Assistant professor of psychiatry at Tulane University School of Medicine
Director of inpatient psychiatric services at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, and a consultant to the New Orleans Police Department
Medical director of the Crossroads Center for Behavioral Health at Magnolia Regional Health Center in Corinth, where she also served as chief of staff
President of the Mississippi Psychiatric Association and longtime Mississippi representative to the American Psychiatric Association Assembly
Named an Exemplary Psychiatrist by the National Alliance on Mental Illness in 1993, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association
She was also active in the Mississippi State Medical Association, including its Women’s Medical Caucus and Board of Trustees, and served as a trustee of the University of Mississippi Alumni Association.
Celebration of Life and Memorials
A celebration of life will be held Saturday, Oct. 17, in the fellowship hall of First Baptist Church in Clinton, 100 East College Street. Visitation is from 1 to 2 p.m., followed by an informal time of sharing memories from 2 to 3 p.m.
Her family has suggested memorials to two causes close to home:
The Union Cemetery Fund, c/o Jerry Crawford, 4391 County Road 201, Walnut, MS 38683
Chalybeate Baptist Church, 2430 County Road 213, Walnut, MS
Powell is survived by two sons, grandchildren, a great-granddaughter, two sisters, and many other relatives and friends. McBride Funeral Home of Ripley cared for the family.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
