Barbara Powell Keeley May 26, 1947 - January 18, 2024
Portsmouth, Rhode Island - Barbara Powell Keeley, 76, of Portsmouth, RI, sadly left us on January 18, 2024, after bravely facing ALS. But as anyone who knew Barbara would understand, she would not want us to dwell on that. A person defined by the mantra “People won’t remember what you said or did, but how you made them feel,” she would want us to remember her by the way she lived her life – vibrantly, full of magic, surrounded by laughter, love, art, and good design, with equal parts elegance and fearlessness, but most importantly, fabulously and with an unmatched joie de vivre!
Born in Charleston, SC, but primarily raised in Middletown, RI, and a graduate of James Madison University, Barbara became an accomplished Interior Designer. Throughout the course of her career, she worked all over the world on high-end hospitality and residential projects for companies like Dorothy Draper, Sheraton Corporation, Burt Hill, AECOM, and her own company, Morris Powell, Inc. She also ran and loved her furniture store, Panache Home Furnishings, in Miami, FL. Barbara won numerous awards and her work was featured in various trade magazines throughout the years. But perhaps one of her proudest achievements was, after she returned to Aquidneck Island, winning the 2015 Newport Hospital Volunteer Shining Star award for her development of a program of creative art to calm and inspire patients.
Beyond her professional accomplishments, Barbara was loving wife and partner to Richard Miller and then Robert Paul Keeley, an amazing and inspiring mother and friend to her daughter (and all her animals!), a devoted sister, a cherished friend, a celebrated hostess, and a second mom to many. Her home was filled with art projects and toy chests, and her calendar with tea parties and elegant dinners. But there was always space at her table, and she welcomed everyone into her home and her heart, no matter their age or walk of life. Her apple pie and Beef Wellington were unrivaled (and her daughter will spend years trying to make them almost as good).
Barbara’s mark on the world was undeniable. She is and will always be sorely missed.
Barbara is the daughter of the late Cdr. John C. and Catherine B. Powell, both of Middletown. RI. She is survived by her daughter, Marissa Catherine Corda of Glastonbury, CT, her brothers, J. Christopher Powell and his wife Candace Powell of Jamestown, RI, and Peter Powell of Sausalito, CA, and her nephew Tyler Lane of Philadelphia, PA. She was pre-deceased by her brother, Matthew Powell of Middletown, RI.
A Celebration of Life will take place on February 24th, from 2 - 5:00pm at the Island House at Belle Mer, located at 2 Goat Island, Newport, RI 02840. It was Barbara’s wish that in lieu of flowers (even though she really loved them) donations be made to the ALS Therapy Development Institute, a non-profit dedicated to finding treatments for ALS (https://www. als.net/donate/). Her brother J. Christopher Powell and his wife Candace Powell would also encourage donations to Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice (https://visitingnursehh. org/giving/).