DeWitt Powell used his passion for cars to spread the Gospel

Editor’s note: Each Sunday, The Herald-Mail runs “A Life Remembered.” Each story in this continuing series takes a look back — through the eyes of family, friends, co-workers and others — at a member of the community who died recently. Today’s “A Life Remembered” is about Gary DeWitt Powell, who died on Nov. 13 at the age of 82. His obituary appeared in The Herald-Mail on Nov. 16.

DeWitt Powell almost made it to a million.

Though he only had 82 years on earth, he almost realized his goal of distributing one million tracts featuring an eye-catching image of one of his rebuilt custom cars to illustrate the message inside — that people can also be rebuilt through faith in Jesus.

Using that little pamphlet he created with the image of the 1951 Mercury he himself heavily customized, Powell shared his passion for cars and Christ.

“His main avenue for doing that would be at the car shows,” said Dan Thornton, executive pastor of Maranatha Brethren Church in Hagerstown, where Powell was active in many roles. “He just talked to everybody and was so personable, and would be handing out these tracts.”

Powell created the tract with the church's former pastor, Jay Fretz, and had restyled that 1951 Mercury, dubbed, “Born Again II," with Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, Chrysler, Lincoln and Buick parts.

“He had a lot of ideas and was a good man,” wife Caroline said. “He could foresee how to take a car and make it into something else.”

Powell's passion for cars was ignited as a teen at South Hagerstown High School, when he had a different 1951 Mercury.

Simple curiosity ultimately led to his passion for the Christian faith and involvement with Maranatha starting in 1974.

He saw the building under construction near his home and was curious about what was going on there.

"And he was actually the very first person to sign the visitor log," Thornton said.

Powell soon made a profession of faith and attended with his first wife, Karen, who died in 1980 at age 40, and their children, Hunter, Dana and Felicia.

He remained active with the church for the rest of his life, serving in roles including head usher, trustee and Sunday school teacher.

"His greatest joy at the church was as a Sunday school teacher," Caroline said. "He loved those kids."

Thornton said Powell brought them gifts, played games with them and even attended their athletic events and concerts.

"When word got around that he had died, I think some of our elementary (school) kids took it harder than the adults," he said.

Powell was also in charge of the church's tract ministry, refilling the display rack in the lobby and making sure it included whatever messages were appropriate for the season.

Thornton, who came from Alaska, first met Powell on a visit to the church to decide if he wanted to move here before he became executive pastor in 2010.

An avid hiker and backpacker, Thornton figured he should try out the Appalachian Trail to help him decide.

Thornton left his car at the end of his planned route and caught a ride with Powell to the start. That ended up being a guided tour and narrative about the area including points of interest such as Crystal Falls Drive and Penn Mar Park.

"I made a friend before I even moved here," Thornton said.

Unfortunately, that ride wasn't in one of Powell's cool cars.

"It was his pickup truck," Thornton said with a laugh. "It was an old beater."

Powell also had a few rough edges himself and a direct nature that Thornton said reminded him of the people of Alaska "who are there because they just don't want to play this silly social game.

"It's very refreshing to me to know that someone is just going to tell you what they think," Thornton said. "That doesn't happen a lot out East here."

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Powell met Caroline at the church, where she played piano and accompanied his youngest daughter, Felicia, when she sang.

After they both retired, she helped him with the Sunday school classes, and they both volunteered in the snack bar at Western Maryland Hospital Center in Hagerstown.

Powell also collected clothing to take to needy people in Kentucky, and the couple volunteered at The Hope Center at Hagerstown Rescue Mission through their adult Sunday school class.

Their 39 years of marriage included fun vacations to places such as Australia and Hawaii, ocean cruises and car cruises.

Instead of wearing his love for Caroline on his sleeve, Powell had a picture of her airbrushed onto the heater housing of one of his Mercurys, which he transferred to others as he bought and sold them.

They attended car shows and cruise-in events around the area and surrounding states. They were able to go more often after health problems problems forced him to retire at age 55 from a career that included employment in the mail room of The Herald-Mail Co. and part-time jobs at Grand Union supermarkets in the area.

Classic Car Group for Children Inc. President Larry Sulser said Powell was among the first participants at the club's car shows that started with 15 or so cars at the Kmart shopping center on Massey Boulevard in the early 1990s, and now draw up to 200 cars on Saturday nights at Valley Mall.

"He was really active with us," Sulser said.

Although he wasn't a member of the club that raises money to help terminally ill children, he was a popular fixture and a good fit for its family-oriented shows, Sulser said.

He brought various cars to those shows, but it was that wildly customized '51 Mercury, Born Again II, that drew the most attention.

"The Mercury was the one that caught everyone's eye," Sulser said. "That seemed to be the popular one."

Among the last car shows he attended was a local event in Waynesboro, Pa., in October.

Caroline said he had fallen ill during their last vacation in September to the Blue Ridge Parkway, but recovered somewhat until he succumbed to the effects of non-alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver the day after his 82nd birthday.

Her answer to the question of what she'll miss most about him is simple.

"Everything," she said.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: His passion for cars helped DeWitt Powell spread the word about Jesus