The late Secretary of State Colin Powell's wife, Alma Johnson Powell, passed away. She was eighty-six.
Peggy Cifrino, a family spokesperson and head of staff for the former diplomat, confirmed her passing.
Michael, Linda, and Annemarie, the couple's three children, said in a statement given to CNN, "(Powell) was the grounding force of our family." "Even though we moved houses a lot as kids, we never felt unsafe because home was always where mom was. She served as a perfect example for the entire world as well as for us. Together with our father, she served our nation with grace and wisdom. Although we shall mourn her much, we find solace in the knowledge that she had a life of great quality and is now with our father again.
Alma supported her husband during his incredible and historic military career, and the two of them were joined in marriage for almost sixty years. Before being sent to Vietnam as a military aide in 1961, the two had a blind date. He went on to become secretary of state under George W. Bush and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff starting under President George H.W. Bush.
He was dispatched to Vietnam four months after the Powells were married, leaving Alma to face the first few years of her married life alone. She would later refer to this as "the defining experience of my life."
I am who I am in part because of my military wife career. I view the armed forces as my family," Alma Powell famously remarked. "Throughout our early years, he was frequently absent. So, you're effectively a single parent, just like a lot of military spouses these days. No matter where you were, it was your job to establish a home. No matter where we were as a family, that was home.
In July 2021, during what was reportedly Colin Powell's last interview, he told reporter Bob Woodward that his wife was the best person he had ever met.
"She would constantly encourage me and tell me when something wasn't a good idea. He stated, "She was generally right.
Among those crucial choices was whether Republican Colin Powell will run for president in 1996. He was incredibly popular for having played a major role in the American-led coalition's victory in the Gulf War, but according to a 1995 New York Times article, he chose not to run for president because his wife and kids were afraid for his safety if he did. This made him the first Black commander in chief.
In 1996, CNN reported that Alma Powell stated, "A Black man running for president is going to be in a dangerous position."
According to the National Museum of African American History & Culture, Powell was chair emeritus of America's Promise Alliance, a nonprofit organization her husband founded that aims to assist at-risk At the time of her death, she was organizing a "cross-sector association of community organizations, businesses, and government organizations" to help youths.
According to a biography of Alma Powell on the America's Promise Alliance website, she also held positions on the boards of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, President Barack Obama's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities from 2010 to 2012, and advisor to the Red Cross of the military district of Washington during her husband's time as chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
According to Cifrino, Alma Powell was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on October 27, 1937. She was employed as the staff audiologist for the Boston Guild for the Hard of Hearing for a while after attending Emerson College in Boston to study speech pathology and audiology. Cifrino stated that among her responsibilities at the guild were "teaching the deaf to read lips, fitting veterans with hearing aids, and giving hearing tests."
Powell leaves behind three daughters, a niece, two nephews, and a host of "countless beloved extended family members and friends," according to a statement from Cifrino.
