WILMINGTON — Barbara Powell was born Barbara Gail Malott in Meridian, Mississippi on August 3, 1936. She was the eldest daughter of Captain Roy Malott and Thelma Gail Humphries Malott.
Her father flew in the Fourth Ferrying Command for the United States Army Air Corps. Following World War II, the family moved where he could find work as a pilot, including stints in Florida, Tennessee, and California. When Barbara was 11 years old, the family landed for good on Wrightsville Beach, N.C., where her father took a job with Piedmont Airlines when service to Wilmington first began.
The beautiful conditions of the warmer months inspired a lifelong love of the water, and her father’s mechanical capabilities instilled a confident “can-do” attitude in Barbara. The family loved sailing, water-skiing, and shell collecting. Barbara attended New Hanover High School. Within the tight-knit year-round community of Wrightsville Beach, Barbara met Carmer Love Davis, Jr. They married, and they had two children, Deborah Gail and Carmer Love III. Eventually, they made a home in Sanford, Florida where Barbara worked as an x-ray technician at Lucerne Hospital. Her talent was often recognized, earning her promotion to management in three different laboratories.
Barbara built a beautiful house on Lake Mary Jess outside of Orlando. Many years later, she met, and married William Douglas Powell of Wilmington, N.C. As a couple they enjoyed a long, loving and adventurous lifestyle, spending months at a time sailing on their Morgan 41 ketch and later touring the western US in an RV. They always returned to the east coast splitting their time between homes in The Villages, Florida and Wilmington. Barbara was an exceptional cook who could make a gourmet dinner out of any fresh fish and whatever was in the galley or refrigerator. She loved plants and could make anything flourish. Everyone who knew her will remember her beloved Koi Pond that she tended at their home in Wilmington.
Barbara is survived by her two children, Deborah Gail Davis of Knoxville, Tennessee and Carmer Love Davis III (Michelle) of Riverview, Florida; grandchildren Jessica Gail Godfrey Smith (Brian) and Natalie Love Godfrey; great-grandchildren Connor David Smith and Amelia Gail Smith. Stepchildren, who cared for her with devotion after Doug passed away in 2019, Doug Jr. and Nan Powell, Sterling and Janine Powell and Miki and Glen Davis. Step grand-children Dottie Cole, Blair Love, Elizabeth Bryan, Bess Schrader and Doug Powell III. She is pre-deceased by her husband Doug, her parents, her sister Roi Penton and her granddaughter Chloe Isabella Davis.
