Obituary of Sophie P. (Bitchell) Powers

Sophie P. (Bitchell) Powers, 81, wife of the late Joseph P. Powers whom in 1949 she married in St. Joseph’s Polish Church in Peabody, died on Thursday, February 7, 2008 at Beverly Hospital with her family at her side. Mrs. Powers was born on January 4, 1927, in Peabody, daughter of the late Jacob and Anastasia (Kozlowski) Bitchell. She was a lifelong resident of the city having grown up in the Emerson Park area of Peabody graduating from Peabody High School in the class of 1944. Following her graduation, Mrs. Powers was employed as a secretary at the General Electric in Lynn. She left the General Electric when she married Joseph and returned to work some years later in the business office of J.B. Thomas Hospital in Peabody, a position she held for 20 years until her retirement in 1989. Both she and her husband were communicants of St. Ann Church of Peabody. Mrs. Powers is survived by her two daughters and a son-in-law, Patricia A. Powers of Peabody and Teresa M. and Gary D. Ciavola of Beverly; a brother, Chester Bitchell of Peabody; two granddaughters, Mia Edith Ciavola and Nola Sophie Ciavola of Beverly; a cousin, Mary Kozlowska of Peabody and many nieces and nephews. Her siblings Frederick and Stanley Bitchell predeceased her. Her funeral service will be held on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 11 a.m. in the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur, 20 Church St. (downtown location) Peabody. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited. Visiting hours Monday 4 to 8 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made in her memory to Haven from Hunger, 71 Wallis St., Peabody MA 01960. Burial in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Peabody.