Jacqueline Loughman Powell

UNIONVILLE, Pennsylvania – March 8, 1964 - October 26, 2020

Jacqueline Loughman Powell passed away peacefully at her home in Unionville, Pennsylvania on October 26, 2020.

Jacqueline was born on March 8, 1964 to Joan Ahlers Loughman and Desmond Michael Loughman in New Hyde Park, New York.  She graduated from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland in 1987, and Washington and Lee Law School in Lexington, Virginia in 1990.  She was admitted to practice law in Delaware and Pennsylvania, and relocated to Wilmington, Delaware to begin her legal career with Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A.  In 1993, she joined the legal department at MBNA America Bank, N.A., where she practiced consumer finance law until 2006.  Shortly thereafter, she retired from the practice of law to pursue her artistic passions, to do volunteer work in her community, and to increase her focus on her two sons.

Jacqueline enjoyed gardening at her rural home in Unionville, Pennsylvania, and was responsible for the growing and sale of vegetable plants each spring at the plant sale sponsored by the London Grove Monthly Meeting of Friends, proceeds of which benefit a variety of causes in the community.  In the off-season, she followed her passion for creative textiles, expanding her longtime skill in sewing custom clothing to self-taught quilting and reupholstering prowess.  She developed and taught sewing classes to middle school students in the Kennett Consolidated School District, first under the auspices of The Garage Community and Youth Center, and later in the After the Bell program at the Kennett Middle School.  She was a long-time participant in the West Chester, Pennsylvania-based Quilt for Kids, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making quilts to comfort children facing serious illness, trauma, abuse, and natural disasters.  In addition, Jacqueline taught English as a Second Language to adults through the Kennett Library's Adult Literacy Program.  Drawing on her legal training, she broadened her undertaking to include informal life coaching, helping her students navigate immigration and employment issues.

Jacqueline's greatest joy was her sons, Barrett and Miles.  They, along with her husband Norm, were the happy beneficiaries of her culinary skills and year round cultivation of herbs in her potager.  The four travelled extensively, crossing the country twice by train.  They enjoyed summer trips to the New England coast, Boston, Chicago, Charlotte and Ashville, North Carolina, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, and winter trips to Miami Beach and Key West, FL.  She presented extended family with bespoke clothing, pillows, quilts, and throws.  In the course of facilitating Barrett's study of ballet and Miles' competitive swimming, Jacqueline enthusiastically participated in Body Pump and Zumba exercise classes at the Kennett Square and West Chester branches of the YMCA.  She particularly loved Zumba dancing, and the dear friends she made over more than ten years of regular participation.

Jacqueline is survived by her husband of 27 years, Norman M. Powell, and their sons Barrett M. Powell and Miles M. Powell.  In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made to After the Bell ( www.afterthebell.org ).  In keeping with Jacqueline's love of good food and company, a memorial will be held at a later, COVID-19 appropriate date.  If you'd like to be apprised of developments, please send an email to jlpmemorial@gmail.com .