Obituaries

OBITUARY: James Powers

Longtime state representative died Wednesday of cancer.

N.H. State Representative James Powers, 73, passed away Feb. 22, 2012 at his home in Portsmouth, from cancer. He was surrounded by family members and under the care of Seacoast Hospice.

Jim was born in Montague, Mass., the son of the late James and Helen Powers, and traced his lineage back to the Mayflower. Jim was married to his wife, Eva, for 53 years. They have two sons, Wayne and Glenn, and two grandsons, Austin and Samuel.

The family moved from Boston to Jackson in 1970, where he helped start the Jackson Ski Touring Foundation. They moved to the Seacoast in 1979, but kept close ties to Jackson and maintained a home there in recent years.

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Jim was an avid learner and reader. He was a Phi Beta Kappa at Amherst College, a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, earned a master's at Harvard, M Ed. at the University of New Hampshire, and a doctorate in psychology, Boston University.

Jim worked as a management consultant, a small business owner, as a guidance counselor and later as a psychologist in the public school system. He and his wife had a private psychology practice in Portsmouth.

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Jim was elected a N.H. State Representative, 2004-2008 and was re-elected in 2010. He served on the environment and agriculture committee in the House. The N.H. Psychological Association presented him with its 2005 distinguished contribution award for "work on human welfare through the legislative process." He was active in Democratic politics and worked on supporting public education and health care, ending discrimination against same-sex couples, and improving the environment.

Dr. Powers was a President and Fellow of the NH Psychological Association, a Board Member of the Seacoast Anti-Pollution League, a yeoman of the Beefeaters' Club, and a Division Commander for the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. He was a member of the Sierra Club, Audubon Society, Appalachian Mountain Club, Seacoast Land Trust, Clean Water Organization, the Nature Conservancy, and he was on Barack Obama's NH environmental committee.

For relaxation, Jim liked to work in the garden, hike, walk and ski with his dog Braveheart and wife Eva. He sang bass with the Seacoast Men of Harmony. He would say, "Exercise, nature, and music -- how can you go wrong?"

A memorial service will be held Sunday, Feb. 26, at 3 p.m. The service will be held at South Church at 292 State Street in Portsmouth.

Jim had a great passion for animals, wild and domestic. His family hopes that in lieu of flowers, friends will celebrate his life through donations to the NH SPCA (www.nhspca.org/contributions.html, NH SPCA, P.O. Box 196, Stratham, NH, 03885) or the Center for Wildlife (www.yorkcenterforwildlife.org/donate.htm, Center for Wildlife, PO Box 620, Cape Neddick, ME, 03902).

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