Rita Mae (Sanborn) Powell

Rita Mae Powell (Sanborn), 95, passed away in comfort at the Stuart Community Care Center on Monday, October 27, 2025.  Visitation will be held from 10-11 A.M. on Saturday, November 1st at the Johnson Family Funeral Home in Stuart.  The funeral service will be held at 11 A.M. on Saturday, November 1st at the Johnson Family Funeral Home in Stuart.  Burial will be in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Menlo.  Memorial contributions may be made to the Stuart-Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church.  Online condolences may be left at www.johnsonfamilyfuneralhome.com.

Rita was born to Merle Morrison and Margaret Lavina (Stevenson) Sanborn on October 17, 1930, in a farmhouse northeast of Menlo, Iowa, in rural Guthrie County. She moved with her family to a farm south of the railroad tracks behind the under bridge east of Menlo on the White Pole Road at the age of nine. She attended country schools until high school.  When she was ten the family moved to a farm they bought in rural Adair County, a mile east of the Schildberg Rock Quarry. She graduated from Menlo High School in 1949.

Following high school, Rita went to work for Banker’s Life in Des Moines and lived at Esther Hall. After several months, she was chosen by her employer to attend school for keypunch operation. After graduation and working a few months, she married Donald B. Powell on September 24, 1950, at Menlo Methodist Church, which she had attended since childhood. She was also baptized at that church. Rita attended youth conferences, including a trip to Cleveland, Ohio, by train, where she met her future husband. To this union, two children were born: Lisa Marie and Kevin Donald.

Her United Methodist membership later transferred to the Stuart–Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church in 1958. Rita was a Sunday school teacher, served as Vice President of WSCS one year, and was a lifelong member. She also oversaw the Children’s Christmas program beginning around 1966, serving as both Jr. and Sr. High UMYF Supervisor from 1968–1973. Throughout her years in the church, she served in many ways.

Rita also worked as a substitute elementary school teacher’s aide at Casey–Iowa schools. She served as class parent several years when her children were in school and supported her husband in his farming operation from 1958–1964. She later worked for the federal government in Des Moines part-time from 1965–1978, and also spent a year in Guthrie Center working at a cassette factory. She then moved to Adair for nurses' aid training and graduated.

When her husband was stationed in the military for one year in Trenton, New Jersey, Rita went with him and lived with family. She worked as a keypuncher.  They decided she would go home to live with her parents while Don was stationed for two years in Japan.  Rita worked as Dr. Osborn’s personal medical assistant at the Dexter Clinic and Hospital from approximately 1952–1954. When the family returned to Stuart, she served as a 4-H leader from 1966–1968 and was also an Adair County 4-H judge for several years. She enjoyed bowling and was a member of the women’s league from 1959–1960 and even winning a poem contest published in The Great Poems of the Western World.  She also volunteered at the Stuart Community Care Center.

In 1972, the family moved to Menlo, where they lived for several years. Rita chaired her class’s 50th high school reunion and remained active in her church and community. She and Don continued their Methodist membership at Stuart for the rest of their lives. Rita was a member of several Menlo area clubs, including the Menlo Rural, Stuart Rural, and Menlo Retired Clubs—Pitch and Pinochle being among her favorites. She assisted at the Menlo Library, belonged to a rural home book club, and also crocheted booties for an organization in Des Moines.  

In 1970, Rita and her family were extras in the movie Cold Turkey, filmed in Greenfield, Iowa. She and Don enjoyed winters in Bella Vista, Arkansas, after purchasing property there, and they loved camping, traveling, and decorating for holidays and family gatherings. Rita continued to cook and bake at “The Willows” and managed her Adair County farm from 1969 onward. Her greatest love was her pond, where she spent peaceful hours fishing.

Rita is survived by her children: Lisa Marie (Daniel) Sheller of Urbandale, Iowa, and Kevin (Janice Piatt) Powell of Stuart, Iowa; grandchildren: Nathanial Kevin (Holly Peterson) Powell of Earlham, Iowa, and Natalie (Chris) Starostka of Earlham, Iowa; and great-grandchildren Ryker Nathanial and Harper Elizabeth Powell. She is also survived by her brother Larry (Doris) Glidewell of Greenfield, Iowa; brother-in-law, Charles Varley of Stuart and Dave Powell of Tucson, Arizona; and 16 nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband Don; brother Virgil; parents Merle and Margaret Sanborn; sisters-in-law Lavonne Mowry, Dorothy Varley and Dorothy Sanborn; brothers-in-law Dean and Bill Powell; parents-in-law Burton and Leola (Hubbard) Powell; and two nephews and one niece.

Professional Arrangements By: Johnson Family Funeral Home & Crematory - Stuart