Gina Powell was born Gina Robin Lindsay on Sept. 25, 1963 in Rockingham, NC to Curtis and Peggie Lindsay. When still very young, the family moved to Clinton, NC, which became their hometown. Gina was a quiet little girl, but exceedingly bright and inquisitive. She loved reading so much that she often read past bedtime, using a flashlight for illumination under the sheets.

She grew up surrounded by love, not only from her parents but from paternal grandparents Buddy and Bessie Lindsay and maternal grandmother, Lola Robinson Collins. When Gina was 5, her sister Maria (of Logan, UT) was born, giving her a lifelong bond with a sister who would be a source of endless love and a valued confidante throughout both their lives. Gina’s extended family included loving aunts and uncles, as well as valued cousins Amy Grisham (Dalton, AL), John Lindsay (Adairsville, GA), Janet Smith (Warfordsburg, PA), Rod Smith (Fallbrook, CA) and Susan Smith (Rockville, MD)—cousins with whom she often visited and occasionally traveled, most memorably on a rigorous bike-riding expedition through Nova Scotia during her early teens.

Gina excelled academically in high school and cultivated her dancing talents. She attended the 1979 N.C. Governor’s School program for academically gifted students (with a concentration on Dance). Her beauty, poise and talent helped her be chosen as Miss Clinton High School during her junior year. Also as a senior, Gina became a runner-up for the Morehead Scholarship at UNC-Chapel Hill and the recipient of a Johnston Scholarship. She graduated UNC with a bachelor’s degree in English. Years later, in 2008, she earned her Master’s degree in Library & Information Science from UNC-Greensboro.

She worked in several careers following college, but the move into library work suited Gina perfectly. She was hired by the NC Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in Raleigh, to serve as its Outreach Coordinator and public face. Gina worked with distinction for 15 years at the NCLBPH, achieving glowing personnel reviews and using her natural warmth and empathy to connect with the Library’s patrons—people isolated from the world because of disability. Gina championed the Library’s mission of reconnecting these disenfranchised people by giving them access to life-enhancing audio books, magazines and newspapers.

Gina’s life was not easy. As the new century began, she started having digestive disorders that grew increasingly worse. Eventually, these disorders triggered emergency runs to hospital ERs to stabilize her intense nausea and vomiting. These episodes became more frequent and severe, sometimes lasting weeks or more. In January 2002, Gina had her first major surgery in efforts to return her to a normal life, but it wouldn’t be her last. In February 2020, Gina’s esophagus and stomach were removed, and it was discovered that her stomach contained cancer, which had spread to her lymph nodes. She was forced to retire from the NCLBPH.

It’s a testament to the indomitable spirit of this strong woman that she lived for 5 more years in this condition. Gina endured the J tube that had been installed for her to take liquid feedings, put up with batteries of medical tests, and withstood powerful courses of radiation and chemotherapy that drained her of energy. Throughout, she retained her good cheer, her unerring personal style, her sense of humor, and the ideals she cherished.

Gina Powell is survived by her loving husband of 35 years, Phill Powell, of Raleigh, NC, as well as her mother, Peggie Jernigan Lindsay of Clinton. Gina was predeceased by her father, Curtis Ray Lindsay, in 2024 after a prolonged illness. Her sister Maria Lindsay-Murphy’s family includes husband Dan Murphy, as well as Gina’s niece Violet Murphy (of the home) and nephew U.S. Army Specialist Collin Murphy (of Fort Cavazos, TX).

A memorial service celebrating Gina Powell’s life will be held 2 PM on Saturday, March 22nd at Graves Memorial Presbyterian Church, located at 201 Fayetteville Street, Clinton, NC, 28328.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made either to the NCLBPH (https://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/about-us/accessible-books/support-our-library) or to the SECU Hospice House of Smithfield, NC (https://www.johnstonhealth.org/locations/profile/?id=79), where Gina lived the final part of her journey through this life.