Respected State Physician Passes, Dr. June A. Powell, MD (February 4, 1943 - August 23, 2026)

Dr. June Annette Powell, an accomplished physician, psychiatrist, educator, writer, musician, artist, and beloved matriarch, died peacefully in her sleep on August 23, 2026, in Tampa, Florida. A resident of Sun City, Florida, she was 83. Across a medical career spanning approximately 55 years, Dr. Powell broke barriers for women in medicine, served patients and families with distinction, and helped shape the practice and leadership of psychiatry in Mississippi and beyond.

June was born on February 4, 1943, to William Guy Powell and Alva Hines Powell in the Hopewell community of Benton County, MS, at the home of her maternal grandparents, Frank Leslie and Amy Daniel Hines. Her paternal grandparents were Hicks and Mary Drewry Powell of Chalybeate, MS. The rural communities of Hopewell and Chalybeate remained part of the foundation of a life that would eventually carry her across the country, into lecture halls, hospitals, medical organizations, churches, and the lives of countless patients.

Her exceptional ability was evident early. June graduated as valedictorian of Independence High School in 1960, completed her studies at Northwest MS Junior College in 1962, and earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Mississippi in 1964. She was among the first 5 women admitted to the University of Mississippi School of Medicine and was the only woman in its graduating class of 1968. At a time when few women were afforded such opportunities in medicine, June did more than enter the profession: she distinguished herself within it.

After medical school, Dr. Powell completed a rotating internship at Midstate Baptist Hospital and practiced family and emergency medicine in Wyoming and Georgia. Drawn to the human mind and to the care of people living with mental illness, she pursued specialty training in psychiatry at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University and North Carolina Baptist Hospital. She completed her residency in 1978 as chief resident and later earned certification from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Dr. Powell's career was as broad as it was consequential. She served as an assistant professor of psychiatry at Tulane University School of Medicine, where she coordinated courses in human behavior and patient interviewing and taught medical students and psychiatric residents. She directed inpatient psychiatric services at Charity Hospital, consulted with the New Orleans Police Department, and later held clinical and administrative leadership roles in Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi. Her work included adult psychiatry, hospital administration, forensic consultation, medical education, peer review, ethics, quality improvement, and the development of psychiatric programs for women and other vulnerable populations.

In North Mississippi, she became closely associated with Magnolia Regional Health Center in Corinth, serving as medical director of the Crossroads Center for Behavioral Health, caring for hospitalized patients, supervising multidisciplinary teams, educating staff, and helping guide the hospital's psychiatric services. She also served as chief of staff and chaired numerous medical staff committees. To her patients and colleagues, she brought not only formidable knowledge, but also careful judgment, high standards, and a lifelong conviction that people living with mental illness deserved skilled, humane, and dignified care.

Her influence extended well beyond her own practice. Dr. Powell served as president of the Mississippi Psychiatric Association and for many years represented Mississippi in the Assembly of the American Psychiatric Association. She held leadership roles in the American Association of Psychiatric Administrators and served the Mississippi State Medical Association through its Women's Medical Caucus, councils, committees, political action committee, Board of Trustees, and annual House of Delegates. She was also a trustee of the University of Mississippi Alumni Association. Her colleagues remember her as an articulate advocate, a principled leader, and, as one friend put it, 'a true lady through and through.'

Dr. Powell was named an Exemplary Psychiatrist by the National Alliance on Mental Illness in 1993 and was honored as a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. These recognitions reflected a professional life devoted not merely to achievement, but to service: service to patients, students, younger physicians, hospitals, professional organizations, and the cause of better mental healthcare.

As impressive as her professional life was, it represented only part of who June was. She was gifted in the culinary arts, drawing, painting, design, and dressmaking. She loved reading, especially the novels of Jane Austen, and wrote several unpublished novels and short stories of her own. Music was woven throughout her life. She served as a summer missionary during college and played the piano and organ in many of the churches she attended, beginning in her teenage years and continuing throughout her life.

June also knew how to enjoy the things she loved. As a teenager, she was an enthusiastic fan of the Detroit Tigers and singer Pat Boone. In adulthood, she became a devoted fan of the Eagles and attended more than fifty of their concerts across the United States. That combination of intellect, creativity, faith, style, curiosity, and delight made her memorable. She could move comfortably from medicine and public policy to music, literature, art, family stories, and laughter.

Above all, June loved her family. She is survived by her sons, Charles T. (Sara) Boswell Jr., of Tampa, Florida, and William Drewry Boswell (Leslie Tompkins), of Terrell, Texas; her grandchildren, Dr. Gibson Boswell (Matt) Livesay, and Dr. William Riley (Morgan) Boswell, of Tampa, and Fender Drewry, Kian, Eleni June, Ainsley Duffy, Oliver Guy, and Amelia Boswell, of Terrell, Texas; her great-granddaughter, Darby Livesay of Tampa; and her sisters, Linda Powell (Spaulding) and Chris Powell Allen, both of Clinton, Mississippi. She also leaves several nieces and nephews in Clinton and Summit, Mississippi, along with many cousins, friends, patients, students, and professional associates whose lives were enriched by knowing her.

Dr. June Powell's life cannot be measured only by the titles she held, the honors she received, or the barriers she broke. Her truest legacy lives in the people she healed, taught, encouraged, challenged, entertained, and loved. She was a pioneer without losing her warmth, a leader without surrendering her humanity, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment whose interests and affections remained wonderfully personal. Her family grieves her passing with deep sadness, but also with profound gratitude for the long, remarkable, and generous life she shared with them and with the world.

There will be a celebration of life on Saturday October 17, 2026, at First Baptist Church Clinton, MS fellowship hall at 100 East College Street, Clinton, Mississippi. The visitation is from 1 until 2 p.m. and there will be an informal sharing of memories from 2PM until 3PM.