‘He was the most selfless person I ever met’
Widow said her husband wrote his own obit to ease family’s pain
It reads like an autobiography or a memoir, but Morris Gerard Power’s death notice had less to do with him and more to do with the people he loved.
He passed away on May 17 at 55 after battling brain cancer, but before he died, he was determined to write his own obituary to ease his wife’s trouble and his family’s pain.
“He said to me, ‘I’m going to do this,’” his wife Kelly Rowsell told The Telegram. “I just couldn’t see me writing it in the middle of my grief. But that was just classic Morris Power. He was very independent. If there was something that had to be done, he took it upon himself to do it because he never wanted to be a burden or inconvenience to anyone.”
In the death notice, which was published in The Telegram, Power expressed his feelings, wrote about his childhood, his career and his family.
“Many things went through my mind in a short period of time and I soon realized I had an opportunity that many are not as fortunate to have,” Power wrote.
“I can ‘get ready.’ I can also prepare to make sure that my beautiful wife, Kelly, is going to be OK without me and to lighten any burden I can from her. Writing this is one of them.”
A corrections officer most of his life, Power said he was proud to be following in his father’s footsteps, having worked at six of the province’s correctional facilities, including Her Majesty’s Penitentiary and the Bishop’s Falls Corrections Centre.
After 32 years of service, he retired in May 2013 and settled in Bishop’s Falls with his wife, who took over Power’s job as assistant superintendent at the Bishop’s Falls Corrections Centre.
“He was a man of integrity and loyalty. He was a very kind man,” Rowsell said. “He did a lot of things behind the scenes to help people and never looked for credit.”
In retirement, Power enjoyed the simple things and took pleasure in being with the couple’s six dogs, most of which had been rescued.
“He loved life and had such a compassion for animals,” Rowsell said.
She said when Power was diagnosed with brain cancer about 17 months ago, they were shocked. Doctors figured, based on statistics, he had between six months and two years to live.
“It was like someone kicked us in the stomach,” she said. “Neither of us had a cold or flu since 2010. Where did this come from?”
But after the initial shock, Power immediately decided to take a positive approach to his diagnosis, Rowsell said.
“He said, ‘There’s nothing we can do about it. I’m not going to let it steal my joy. I’m going to live my life the best way I can,’” she said.
“He made up his mind. He couldn’t control it, so he was going to control how he reacted to it.
“He made it all about me.” Rowsell said Power wanted to ensure their days together were happy and full. Despite his overwhelming sadness about his own life ending, he wanted to ensure his wife would be OK.
“He was the most selfless person I ever met,” Rowsell said. “I told him I would be there for him right to the end.”
Rowsell began working parttime from home to be with Power.
In June 2016, Power, little by little, began writing his obituary.
“He tried to get as much done before his speaking and writing ability went,” Rowsell said.
Over the course of the next year, Power wrote excerpts, and when he got sicker, he asked Rowsell to piece them together.
“I found bits and pieces on his laptop,” she said. “When I read the part he wrote about me, I said, ‘Morris, people are going to think I wrote that.’ He said, ‘Who cares? Anyone who knows us knows you’re my queen.’”
In his final days, as Power lay in bed at their secondary home in Conception Bay South — “He didn’t want to die in the hospital” — Rowsell read the completed piece to him. He told her it was perfect, and to just add the date of his passing and the funeral information when the time came.
At 4:30 a.m. on May 17, Rowsell sat by the bed, her head on Power’s chest, and spoke her last words to her husband.
“I could hear him breathing and then I must’ve dozed off for 10 or 15 minutes,” she said. “When I woke up, there was no sound. He was still warm, but had no pulse. He must’ve just died.”
As Rowsell cried, their beloved dogs surrounded them.
Power’s funeral attracted hordes of people and was recorded on video, which was then posted on the Conception Bay South Salvation Army Corps’ Facebook page. To date, it’s been viewed almost 7,000 times.
“I’m still getting messages from people around the world about it,” Rowsell said.
“Morris wasn’t afraid of dying. His faith was strong and he found his peace. He was happy right up until the end. This is not tragedy. This is triumph. That’s the message he wanted at his funeral.”
His obituary, which was posted on Hickey’s Funeral Home website, also got plenty of attention.
“There wasn’t one thing left unsaid or anything left undone,” Rowsell said. “He told me he had the best 11 years of his life with me, so all he wanted was for me to be OK.
“But that’s just the kind of person Morris was, and that’s what he’ll always be remembered for.”
Power’s death notice can be viewed at: http://www. inmemoriam.ca/view-announcement-613466-morrisgerard-power.html.