A funeral Mass for Deacon Robert J. Powers was celebrated Aug. 5 at Sacred Heart Church in Florissant. Deacon Powers died July 31. He was 89 and had been a deacon for 32 years.

Born in 1927 in St. Louis, he was married in 1949 to Loretta Ann Powers (nee Kaup). They were blessed with five children: Kathleen (deceased), Nancy, Diane, Ann and Robert. Loretta died in 1995. Deacon Powers received special permission from the Holy Father to remarry, married Georgia Powers (nee Jones) in 1998, and became stepfather to five children: Stephen, Janice, Mark, Christopher and Jeanne. He was the grandfather of 26 and the great-grandfather of 20. Deacon Powers served in the U.S. Navy as an electronics technician from 1945 to an honorable discharge in 1948.

Deacon Powers was ordained Feb. 9, 1985, by Archbishop John L. May. He was originally assigned to assist the pastor of North American Martyrs Parish in Florissant, and in 2005, as a result of the reorganization of parishes in the Northeast County Deanery, was assigned to assist the pastor of the Sacred Heart, where he served until his retirement on June 6, 2006.

Before retirement, in addition to sacramental functions of a deacon, specifically assisting at Mass, conducting wake services and attending funerals, leading Liturgy of the Word and Communion services when needed, performing baptisms, conducting benedictions and leading Stations of the Cross, Deacon Powers spent time visiting the sick and homebound, working extensively in bereavement support ministries throughout the archdiocese.