(January 1, 2002)
Former Powell resident Ruth Lewis Kells, 99, died Tuesday, Jan. 1 at the Highland Farms Retirement Community in Black Mountain, N.C.
A native of Russell, Iowa, she was the daughter of Robert and Ora Hancock Lewis and wife of the late Ray L. Kells.
She was a graduate of Grinnell College, then moved with her family to Powell where she was an elementary school music teacher and church organist. In retirement, she and her husband enjoyed traveling the U.S., Europe, Middle East, Africa, and the Far East until his death in 1969.
She was a resident of Leesburg and Ocala, Fla., until moving to Highland Farms in North Carolina.
Surviving are one son, Dean Kells and his wife, Mary Anderson Kells, of Montreat, N.C.; one daughter, Shirley Halleen, of Sioux Falls, S.D.; five grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by a sister, Dorothy Lewis Norberg.
Memorial services will be held at a later date. Memorials may be made to one's favorite charity.