Teacher lived 'in service to others'

HUNTERSVILLE – A SouthLake Christian Academy fourth-grade teacher, whom friends called an example of grace, civility and compassion, died Jan. 21 in a head-on collision along N.C. 73.

Aimee Elisabeth Powell, 25, died last week after her Pontiac Grand Am collided with a Dodge truck driven by Stephen Todd Richard, 19, of Vale. A Huntersville Police Department report said Richard’s truck crossed the centerline on the highway near Beatties Ford Road at 7:05 a.m., as Powell drove to school. Both cars were traveling 55 mph.

Emergency workers took Powell to Carolinas Medical Center, where she died at 7:15 p.m.

Police are still investigating the wreck, and no charges have been filed, Huntersville Police Capt. Michael Kee said Tuesday. Police said the teen was not using his cell phone at the time the wreck happened. Police hope to speak with Richard, who was released from a hospital earlier this week, and wrap up the investigation by the weekend, Kee added.

“Aimee was the example for how people wanted to live their lives but didn’t know how,” best friend Christy Seifert said. “She was thorough in how she loved people. She wanted to do everything she could, and she wanted to live humbly and simply and in service to others.”

A funeral service was held Wednesday, after the Herald Weekly’s deadline, at Uptown Church of Charlotte, where Powell was a member.

Powell was born to career missionaries and spent most of her childhood in Taiwan, where her parents were called to serve. She graduated from Columbia International University in Columbia, S.C., where she majored in elementary education.

Powell was an active member in Uptown Church and last summer, she and Seifert traveled to Peru to train teachers.

Seifert remembers that time fondly.

“Aimee craves simplicity,” Seifert said. “She loved living quietly, and it was amazing being able to pray with her in the jungles and see her so happy.”

Friends said Powell’s compassion came from her childhood, helping her parents in their mission in Taiwan and taking part in other mission trips. She moved to the United States when she was 18.

Her parents, Seifert said, have asked that no one hold ill will toward Richard, the driver of the truck.

“They want him, and everyone, to know that they hold nothing against this man,” she said. “They trust that the Lord’s will was done that day and that it was her time to be called … They don’t want him (Richard) to be burdened by this.”

Richard, who lives at 6962 Gene Baxter Lane in rural Lincoln County, does not have a published phone number. A neighbor who lives within sight of Richard’s home described him as a “good fella.” The neighbor said she would ask Richard’s relatives if they wanted to comment, but no one called.

Teachers and students at SouthLake Christian Academy are devastated by Powell’s death, many said.

In a statement released last week, SouthLake Headmaster Dr. C. Wayne Parker asked the community to support each other.

“It is with heavy hearts that we gather this morning to begin to help our students and one another through the loss of our teacher and friend, Aimee Powell,” Parker wrote. “We are assured that through the Lord’s strength, we can all come to the place that will honor Aimee to celebrate her life, her love of Jesus Christ and her eternity with Him.”

Seifert, who now lives and teaches in Egypt, flew back for the funeral over the weekend. Seifert moved to Cairo three months ago, and the two friends had talked nearly every weekend since she left. They were scheduled to talk the weekend after she died.

Seifert sat in Powell’s bedroom at her home in Charlotte’s NoDa neighborhood Tuesday to gather her thoughts.

“It’s actually an intense enclosure,” she said, panning the room. “Everything around me are the things that Aimee treasured … There’s a lot of love in this room.”