Ike Garber Powell died peacefully on November 21, 2025, in La Mesa, California, surrounded by his children—Julie, John, and Joseph—and his wife, Charlene. He was born on January 7, 1938, in the small southern town of Cairo, Georgia, a son of John Augustus Powell II and Velva Lois Garber. He was deeply devoted to his family and his lifelong work in marginalized communities.
As a teenager, Ike rose early to deliver 1200 eggs a day in his Model A Ford. He was an Eagle Scout and a football standout who set long-standing track records at Cairo High School. However, it was his involvement in the First United Methodist Church of Cairo, and immersion in the southern conservative Christian tradition, that set him on his spiritual journey of service and discovery.
Ike earned degrees from Duke and Emory in psychology and religion as well as graduate work in pastoral counselling from Columbia Theological Seminary. While at Emory, he met the love of his life, Charlene Cronier. After taking his divinity degree, he briefly served as a minister in the Capitol Homes project in Atlanta before choosing ‘social’ over ‘parish’ work. With his family, he spent more than 20 years with the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA), living in and working with impoverished rural and urban neighborhoods in the U.S. and abroad, helping empower people to improve their lives and communities.
As Director of Training for the Appalachian Consulting Group (ACG), Ike played a pivotal role in institutionalizing peer support within Georgia’s mental-health system. Beginning with Georgia’s first statewide Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) program in 2001, he helped design and deliver training that enabled people with lived experience of mental illness to work as Medicaid-funded peer supporters. He later co-developed the “Peer Support Whole Health and Resiliency”model, expanding peer support into holistic, wellness-oriented recovery. His work helped make Georgia a national leader and inspired similar programs across the country.After a lifetime alongside people from varied backgrounds, Ike came to believe the greatest powers shaping his life were love, awareness, freedom, and gratitude. He believed in love for all of creation, awareness of our current reality and its imaginable possibilities, freedom to act on that awareness, and gratitude for the mystery and wonder of life.
We will miss his compassion, leadership, wisdom, jokes, and stories.
Ike is survived by his wife, Charlene Powell; his children and their spouses Julie and John Bertram, John Powell and Jane Springer, Joseph Powell and Kira Blaskovich; his grandchildren Keightley, Karri, Kathryn, Morrison, Dylan, and Calvin; and his great grandchild, Nora Charlene. He requested a graveside service in Cairo, Georgia, at a future date when he and Charlene can be interred together. His family is planning a celebration of life after the holidays and welcomes remembrances. Please share withJulie (jbertram520(a)gmail.com) In lieu of flowers, please make donations in his name to the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network.
