Obituary of John Warren Power

Dr. John Warren Power, Jr., 65, of Oakland Hills Lane, Memphis, Tennessee died March 28, 2014. It is with sadness that we say goodbye to our brother and uncle who could spend the day fishing and end the day talking about the molecular structure of proteins. Born on January 1, 1949 in New Rochelle, NY, he was the son of John "Skip" Warren Power, Sr. and Mildred "Millie" George Power. He graduated from Canajoharie High School (1967) and Colgate University with highest honors (1971). At Colgate John received the Lasher Prize for Creative Writing and the McGregory Prize in Chemistry. John received his Master's degree in chemistry from UCLA in 1973 and later obtained his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY (1980). He once said the best choices he made were to play football at Canajoharie High School and to attend Colgate University. He resided in Memphis for the last 20 years, previously residing in Canajoharie, NY, California, Sweden, and Alabama. After graduating from Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse he worked as a research fellow in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Leeds and the Medical Research Council Laboratories of Molecular Biology, Protein Chemistry at Cambridge. He taught at SUNY in Geneseo and Memphis State University in the 1980s. In the late 1980s he changed his career path to developing and patenting flexible, corrosion resistant adhesive coating. In partnership, he launched a company called Custom Coatings. He ended his career as a chemist for WM Barr in Memphis. John was a member of the American Chemical Society. He was an avid fisherman, furniture repairmen, storyteller and gardener. John also held a number of patents. Dr. Power is survived by his sister, Leslie Power and her husband, David Morton (Spokane, WA), his sister, Nancy Power (St. Simons Island, GA), his niece, Riley Power (St. Simons Island, GA), his niece, Kelly Morton (Spokane, WA) and his nephew, Kristopher Morton (Spokane, WA). Services were private and held at the convenience of the family.