Marcelle Appling Underwood Powell

Marcelle Appling Underwood Powell age 93, formerly of Tuscaloosa, passed away peacefully at Hospice of West Alabama on Wednesday, March 15, 2017.  Graveside services will be held at Walker Memory Gardens in Jasper on Monday, March 20, 2017 at 2:30 p.m. with Norwood-Wyatt Chapel of Fayette directing. Marcelle was preceded in death by her husbands, Joseph (Joe) Underwood, Sr. and Thomas O. Powell; parents, Edgar and Esther Sherer Appling; one sister and three brothers. Survivors include her sister, Sarah Appling Stephens; daughter, Donna Blethen; sons, Joseph (Joe) Underwood, Jr. (Mary), Jerry Underwood (Charlotte), and Wayne Powell (Patricia); and six grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. Honorary pallbearers that our mother named before her death encompass the following; past and current members of Central Church of Christ; previous and present residents, close friends, and staff of Presbyterian Apartments; all doctors and other employees of Tuskaloosa Internal Medicine; Dr. Amit Shah, Dr. Thomas Emig, and a special friend and hairdresser, Wanda Kelly. Most important to mother (Mimi) was to recognize her closest grandson, grand-daughter-in-law and their four daughters, Natalie, Lillian, Mallory and Katherine Underwood and to let them be reminded that they were the lights of her life and motivation for wanting to live, even as her health declined.  She loved them so dearly and unconditionally, finding their frequent calls, visits, meals and time that they regularly spent with her capable of brightening any day or night and relieving her pain.  As she always expressed her feelings regarding the six of them, “They are the lights of my life and my own personal angels!” In lieu of flowers the family would appreciate donations to the RISE Center at the University of Alabama, Central Church of Christ, or to the children’s charity of your choice.