John Morgan Powell, 63, passed away at his home in Vineyard, Utah, on Saturday, December 28, 2024.

John was born December 31, 1960, in Mesa, Arizona, to Roy Powell and Dixie Lee Richardson Powell.

John is survived by his siblings: Karen (Tony) Carbine, Lora (Dave) Hofmann, Donna (Don) Bradshaw, Denise (Paul) Hamilton, Yvonne (Paul) Nickels, Elon (Paul) Simonson, Richard (Kristen) Powell, and David Powell.

John was predeceased by his parents, Roy Gibbons Powell and Dixie Lee Richardson Powell, and his brothers, Ronald Powell and Craig Powell.

John served as senior class president and was valedictorian at Safford High School in 1979. He was considered a math genius and was rated in the top 10 math students in the state of Arizona. He was also a member of the honor choir and was voted "most likely to succeed".

John excelled in sports, including softball and volleyball; he played for Safford High School on the varsity basketball team and was captain of the varsity tennis team.

John served a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Argentina Buenos Aires-South mission from 1980 to 1982.

John was a member of the BYU Ballroom Dance Company when they won first place in the Latin American Formation championship and third place in the Ballroom Dance division at the international Blackpool Dance Festival in Blackpool, England.

While at BYU, John was in the astronomy club and was also on the dean's list.  He earned a degree in physics and a PhD in astronomy at BYU, qualifying him as an astrophysicist.

John worked at Utah Valley University for 28 years teaching astronomy and physics and serving as planetarium director.

John loved to dance! He was known to frequent the singles dances several times a week for ballroom dancing, various forms of swing, latin dancing (such as salsa, bachata, merengue), and Texas two-step.  In recent years he developed his own dance pattern called the "argyle" and a dance style which he called the "merengue hustle".

A celebration of life will be held for John at 1 PM on Saturday, January 4, 2025, with a dance following from 3 to 5 PM.  Location is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building at 190 North 800 West in Orem, Utah.

Come dance with us to celebrate the life of John Powell!

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