He grew up on a farm outside Liberty, Mississippi, enlisting in the Civilian Conservation Corps after the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, and then in the Army.
Throughout his career, he took correspondence business courses from the University of Chicago and used what he learned to invest. After 23 years in the Army, he worked for the State Department.
His first donation to USM came after he learned about Oseola McCarty, who invested what she earned by hand=washing laundry and gave the school $150,000 in 1995 to use for scholarships.
Powell learned abut McCarty’s gift during a trip home for a family reunion, the news release said. “Powell called the USM Foundation soon after returning home, and a few weeks later, a check arrived for $30,000,” it said.
Laundress's gift inspires total of $3.1M from Army retiree djournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from djournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.