Lois Rae (Lewis) Powell

Lois Rae Lewis Powell April 20, 1933 – April 23, 2026

Lois Rae Lewis Powell, 93, passed away on April 23, 2026, at her home just outside of Temple, Oklahoma — only six miles from where she was born on April 20, 1933, to Gordon Ray Lewis and Blanche Gammill Lewis in Temple.

Lois had a full life that carried her across oceans, yet she always made her way back to friends and family in Temple. She graduated as Valedictorian of Temple School in 1951 and took her first job at the David Rodolph Insurance and Real Estate office in Temple.

On August 9, 1953, Lois married a Temple boy, Harold Wayne Powell, at First Baptist Church in Temple — the first couple to be wed in the newly constructed sanctuary. They celebrated their 70th anniversary before Harold’s passing in 2023. After their wedding, Lois joined Harold in Norman as he pursued his education at the University of Oklahoma and she helped support the family working in a law office.

When Harold graduated and was commissioned into the United States Army, Lois embarked on a life that would take their growing family around the world. She raised their three children, Brenda, Beth, and Joseph, at posts that included Germany, Utah, Kansas, Hawaii, and multiple stints in Texas. She returned to Temple for a year when Harold served in Vietnam.

Lois trained as a tax accountant and worked for H&R Block at different locations, a car dealership and import shop in Hawaii, and for a chain of nursing homes that included Temple Manor. When Harold retired from the army, they returned to Cotton County, where for almost 50 years she helped run the farming operation as a bookkeeper and occasional farm hand.

Lois and Harold were involved in community life reviving the local newspaper, the Temple Tribune, and founding a museum dedicated to the history of Cotton County. Harold was the visionary; Lois was the one who did the detailed work that brought the vision to life. She built and maintained meticulous family history files for local families, kept the museum’s finances in order, updated its exhibits, and continued to run it with quiet dedication until her death.

Lois was also the keeper of her family’s story, tracing genealogy on trips with Harold, organizing records and photographs passed down through generations for both the Powell and the Lewis families and assembling detailed photo albums documenting the family’s life across decades and continents.

After returning to Temple, Lois and Harold traveled extensively, attended ranching conferences, brick collector meetings, and cruises with fellow Oklahomans organized by her cousin Jennifer Carroll.

Horses were a lifelong love. As a girl, Lois rode with her brother Tab and a local riding club. Tab later remembered the day they pulled off their saddles and rode bareback into Temple Lake. She was also an artist, painting scenes from her family life and travels, and she was a seamstress, who made her own clothes as a teenager and clothes for her children for many years.

Those who knew Lois remember her as kind, wise, gentle and quietly insightful.

She was preceded in death by her husband, parents and brother. She is survived by her children, Brenda Chuleewah, Beth Casteel, and Joseph Powell; her grandchildren, Conjotee Chuleewah, Ethan Lewis Casteel, R. Quinn Casteel, and Cole Powell Casteel; and her great-grandchildren, Lincoln, Tatum, and Sloane Casteel, along with many beloved friends and extended family across Cotton County and beyond.

Funeral services will be held at First Baptist Church in Temple, Oklahoma, at 10:30 a.m., Monday, April 27th, with Rev. Kevin Simpson officiating under the direction of Hart-Wyatt Funeral Home.