Lee Pownell, 73, passed away peacefully surrounded by family
and toe tappin? to Johnny Cash on February 24, 2022, in Newton, KS.
Lee was born the first (and rowdiest) of three boys to Milton
and Mary Pownell on August 10, 1948, at Halstead Hospital in Halstead, KS. Lee
attended Halstead High School in Halstead, KS, but, like any good rebel, he
made sure to get kicked out. (Luckily for his family, although he never did
learn to ask for permission, he eventually learned to ask for forgiveness.) Lee
went on to obtain an Associate of Science degree from Hutchinson Junior College
in Hutchinson, KS, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration
from Wichita State University in Wichita, KS.
Lee was a true-blue country boy who was blessed with a
genius-level IQ and a stubborn but tenacious spirit. Lee enjoyed Kansas fall
weather, the Kansas Jayhawks, the mountains in the West, chopping firewood,
building or repairing anything, big red barns, wildlife (especially wolves),
classic country music, Westerns, and especially his own (many) garages. Lee
looked forward to the Kansas autumn auction season every year, and, even if he
bought a little too much, it was always astonishingly organized in the
incredible double-decker garage that he designed himself.
Notwithstanding his enjoyment of the outdoors, as a young
man, Lee had the vision to see that computers were the future. Using his
ability to teach himself anything, Lee became an early computer programmer in
the 1980s; his computerprogramming career spanned for decades, and he worked at
both Farmland Industries in Hutchinson, KS, and his alma mater, Wichita State
University. Lee also taught himself auto mechanics, much to the dismay of his
daughters (as there was never an excuse to buy a new car).
Lee had the good fortune to meet the beautiful Barbara his
wife of more than 50 years while draggin? Main Street in Newton in the 1960s.
Lee spotted Barbara in the moonlight, hard at work sweeping the lot at A&W
Drive In, and he took a chance and asked her for a date. She agreed to one
date, but Lee knew he had to double down (and he also knew there was no way he
could show up to take Otto?s daughter out on a date on a motorcycle), and so he
made sure to buy a brand-new Oldsmobile the next day. Lee and Barbara were
blessed with two spunky daughters, Jessy and Katie, who traveled the world but
would always take the dirt roads back home to see his newest additions to the
garagestead.
Lee is survived by wife Barbara Dalke Pownell, of Newton,
KS; daughter Jessica Leigh (Camilo), of Tampa, FL; daughter Katherine Michelle
(Kartheek), of San Francisco, CA; brother David (Helene), of Manhattan, KS;
sister-in-law Pamela (Victor) Garcia, of Newton, KS; and sister-in-law Ruth
Jacob of Halstead, KS.
Lee was preceded in death by father Milton Pownell, mother
Mary Clupny Pownell, brother John Pownell, father- and mother-in-law Otto Dalke
and Wilma Welty Dalke, and brother-in-law Michael Dalke.
Funeral service will be 2:00 p.m., Tuesday. March 1, 2022 at
Petersen Funeral Home Chapel 215 North Main Newton, Kansas with Pastor Chip
Bungard presiding. Visitation will be 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday at the funeral
home. Burial will be in the Greenwood Cemetery Newton, Kansas
Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church Newton, Kansas
?So I fiddle when I can, work when I should. Thank God, I?m
a country boy.? ? John Denver
