Alma Johnson Powell, wife of the late Secretary of State Colin Powell, has died at age 86, CNN reported on Monday.
She "was the grounding force of our family," the couple's three children, Michael, Linda, and Annemarie, said in a statement. "During childhoods marked by constant moving to new homes, we always felt secure, because home was wherever she stood.
"She was an exemplary role model for us and for the world. She served our country, alongside our father, with intelligence and grace. We will miss her terribly but take comfort in the fact that she had a life so well-lived and is reunited with our father."
The Powells were married for nearly 60 years. Four months after the wedding, Colin was sent to Vietnam, leaving Alma, as a newlywed, alone, which she later called "the defining experience of my life."
She said that her "job was to make a home wherever you were. Home was where we were as a family, wherever that was."
At the time of her passing, Powell was listed as chair emeritus of America's Promise Alliance, a nonprofit founded by her husband that helps at-risk youth by coordinating the efforts of a "cross-sector association of community organizations, businesses, and government organizations," according to the National Museum of African American History & Culture.
She was born on Oct. 27, 1937, in Birmingham, Alabama, according to Peggy Cifrino, the former diplomat's chief of staff and family spokesperson.
She studied speech pathology and audiology at Emerson College in Boston and worked for a time as the staff audiologist for the Boston Guild for the Hard of Hearing.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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