For more than three decades, she was known as the person to turn to when her neighbors needed help.
As the Pleasant Township Trustee for 35 years, Mary Ann Powell was responsible for providing assistance for people in need of financial help, maintaining cemeteries and connecting local residents with other services in the county. Powell died July 4 at the age of 72 at Community Hospital South in Indianapolis. Colleagues remembered her as someone who was dedicated to serving others and did all she could to make sure those in need of assistance were helped.
“She never took no for an answer; she was always a fighter,” said John Asher, a member of the Pleasant Township Advisory Board.
Prior to becoming trustee, Powell had previously served as the town manager for Whiteland and had graduated from Whiteland Community High School.
“She was always someone you could count on,” Republican Party Chairwoman Beth Boyce said. “She had a heart for service.”
Powell’s sole focus was on doing whatever she could to help people in need who came to her for assistance, said Jerry Napier, who has served alongside Powell as a member of the township board for the past 33 years.
When people came to the trustee’s office seeking assistance, Powell would always sit down with them and carefully review their request, looking for all the ways the township or other agencies could assist them, Napier said.
State laws limit when township trustees can give financial assistance to a specific set of circumstances, such as for utility assistance. In situations where someone needed help and the township wasn’t able to offer it, Powell would work to make sure that the person was connected with other agencies or nonprofits that could help them.
“She was very loyal to the people of Pleasant Township,” Napier said. “She felt her job was that if someone needs help, and she could help them, she would do so in a timely manner.”
The trustee position is on the ballet in the general election. Powell, a Republican, was the only candidate who filed to run.
Precinct commissioners will meet later this month to both appoint someone to serve the remainder of Powell’s term and to appoint someone to replace her on the ballot, Boyce said. Interested candidates have until Monday to apply and must live in Pleasant Township, which includes much of Greenwood and all of Whiteland and New Whiteland.
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A caucus will be conducted to select a new Pleasant Township trustee and to name someone to run for Pleasant Township trustee in the general election.
When: 7 p.m. July 26
Where: Whiteland Town Hall, 549 E. Main St.
Apply as a candidate: Send a letter to county Republican party chairwoman Beth Boyce, 845 Richart Lane, Greenwood. The letter must be post-marked by 7 p.m. Monday.
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