The Love of My Life

The love of my life passed away at 4 AM on December 4, 2022. She was Beverly Powell. I met Beverly for the first time in June 1956. It was love at first sight. Ten weeks after our first meeting, we were married by Dr. Aquilla Chamlee, a great saint of the Lord, in the splendor of his home. I am a Perry boy. Beverly is a Fort Valley girl. The basketball rivalry between Fort Valley and Perry was fierce. I became so love-stricken to see Beverly that I would start walking from Perry to Fort Valley, a distance of 12 miles, just to see her — as I had no car. After about a mile outside Perry on a dark lonely road, Mel Tolleson, who was dating a Fort Valley girl, came by in his car and offered me a ride. Later, Mel picked me up in Fort Valley and brought me back to Perry. Next time I tried to walk to Fort Valley, Billy Beckham (All-State basketball player and 1953 state championship teammate), who was also dating a girl in Fort Valley, gave me a ride and brought me back to Perry. I will never know how hard the walk from Perry to Fort Valley would have been, but I was determined to see the young lady I loved very much.

Since demographics have proven that females will live 5-10 years longer than males, I always thought that Beverly would outlive me, but that didn’t happen. So, I am now living with my son, Tim, in Dahlonega, Georgia, about 170 miles north of where I once lived. Since I will be 88 in October, we felt it was best to live with someone if sickness struck. So far, I am doing fine. In the past, I was living in isolation, inside the woods.

I currently attend the Methodist Church in Dahlonega, a large congregation where Dr. Steve Schofield is pastor—a great pastor and sermonist. Dr. Schofield’s son, Luke, was selected to attend an elite school: Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This is the first time in Lumpkin County history that a Dahlonega youth has been selected to attend Harvard.

Hall of Fame coach, Norman Faircloth of Fort Valley, was chatting one day with his Perry friends. Faircloth said to them, “Over the years we have lost so many of our pretty Fort Valley girls to Perry boys, who married them and moved our girls to Perry, and all we got to show for it is Billy Powell.” Coach was referring to the fact that Beverly kept me in Fort Valley, and I did not take her to Perry to live. During these years, I worked during the day and attended Mercer University at night until he graduated in 1961.

During the ensuing years, Beverly and I had two fine boys, Bill and Tim, two great daughters-in-law in Cindy and Judy, plus five wonderful grandchildren in Ashtyn, Alyssa, Jacob, Eli, and Jordan.

Beverly was a great runner. She won first place in her age group during multiple years in the Georgia Grand Prix Running Series. Beverly once ran the Macon Labor Day Road Race in a record time of 22 minutes and 19 seconds. The day she came across the finish line, I was there admiring her accomplishment. Beverly also served for many years as a Sunday School teacher. One of her signal accomplishments was being selected as a Torch Bearer for the 1996 Olympics. Beverly ran the Olympic Torch through Fort Valley. When I started writing books and newspaper articles, Beverly helped me immensely as the grammatical/analytical proof reader and advisor. This had gone on for over 50 years.

Beverly was truly a great lady. The big question that remains is can Billy make it without the support and love of Beverly which he benefitted from for 66 years? Billy requests your prayers.

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