A. Thomas Powers

Andrew Thomas (Tom) Powers, age 88, passed away January 15, 2015. He was born in Chicago, the youngest of three children of Ann (Jiracek) and Andrew T. Powers. He attended Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Illinois, served in the U.S. Navy during WWII, and graduated from John Carroll University in 1950. He married his wife of 64 years, Geraldine (Jannazo), that same year at St. Francis Church in Cleveland. They lived in St. Clare Parish in Mayfield Heights for 63 years, lovingly raising seven children: Maureen (John) Vela of Tiffin, OH; Cathy (Mike) Brady of Prospect Hts, IL; Mary Ellen (Danny Sauls) of Alexandria, VA; Tom (Ann) of Cincinnati, OH; Jerry (Therese Sullivan) of South Bend, IN; Nancy (John Duffey) of Dublin, OH; and Tony (Cecilia) of Folsom, CA. He was the devoted grandfather of 28 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.

Tom’s first – and only – job after college was with Bauer Surveys Company, a firm he eventually bought in 1969 and sold upon his retirement in 1997. He surveyed the steel mills, salt mines and utilities as well as major residential real estate developments throughout the Cleveland area. All of his children worked as teenagers at Bauer Surveys, learning firsthand the importance of loving one’s work – as well as how to read a map. Tom was active in Professional Land Surveyors of Ohio for many years and was the Surveyor of the Year in 1984.

Tom and Jerry joined a Christian Life Community group while in college and counted its members as among their closest friends for 65 years. Tom was a Eucharistic Minister at St. Clare’s for 40 years, taught CCD classes and served the parish in many other ways.

In addition to his children and grandchildren, Tom is survived by a host of loving nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters, Mary Ellen and Pat.

Donations may be made in Tom’s name to Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, 8380 Colesville Road #300, Silver Spring, MD 20910 for the benefit of Casa Corazon de la Misericordia orphanage in Honduras, one of the beneficiaries of Tom’s annual Powers Family Christmas fund.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, January 19, at St. Clare Catholic Church at 10:30 AM. Burial will follow at Lake View Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the DeJohn-Flynn-Mylott Funeral Home, 4600 Mayfield Road, South Euclid on Sunday, January 18, from 2:00 to 6:00 PM.