Friends, Family Pay Tribute To Longtime SPHS Band Director R. Thomas Powell

Richard “Dick” Thomas Powell spent nearly 50 years as the band director at Severna Park High School from 1967 to 2014. Yet, it was not enough.

Before the 79-year-old Linthicum resident died on Thanksgiving, he made a confession to Howard Weinstein, a former student who later designed shows for Powell.

In an online post, Weinstein wrote, “I was fortunate enough to spend a good amount of time with him the evening before he passed, and this says everything: he looked at me and said, ‘I should have waited another 10 years to retire.’ That would have been this year, and when he did retire, he had completed (47) years in education.

“That says everything. Teaching was his life.”

While student teaching at South Hagerstown High School, Powell realized that he wanted to build a music program for high school students. That is exactly what he did in Severna Park after he graduated from Frostburg State University in 1967.

Powell treasured every moment with students, not just as their band director but also as their mentor.

“There was not a time I didn't enjoy,” Powell told the Voice in 2015. “The school. The kids. The staff. The people I worked with. Making music on a daily basis. All of it. All the time I spent at that school was a complete joy. I loved my job. I loved everything about it, and especially working with kids to make music.”

Former Severna Park band member Meg Viviano graduated in 2003. She said Powell’s impact on kids throughout the years is hard to convey.

“The way he created a hierarchy among students, so that freshmen had role models to emulate, upperclassmen had great leadership experience, and all students were taught a sense of responsibility,” Viviano said when explaining what made Powell so special. “He also just genuinely cared about his students. The band room was like a haven for kids who maybe didn't feel like they fit in elsewhere.”

Powell’s wife, Joan, agreed that her husband welcomed everyone to the music program.

“If you couldn’t play an instrument, he would find someone to teach you,” she said. “He wanted everyone to be involved.”

Joan described her husband as wonderful and caring. A kindergarten teacher who worked in Howard County, Joan understood her husband’s passion for sharing life lessons with his students.

“I couldn’t ask for a better person,” she said. “My life was full of band (experiences), with the students and parents. We made lifelong friends with all of those people.

“He had incredible amounts of energy,” she added. “He had a dream, and he got to live his dream.”

Powell kept in touch with other band directors, including two of his former students who followed in his footsteps: Ed Nagel at Northeast High School and Mike Harrison at Urbana.

Joan recalls three alumni celebrations held throughout the years, and Powell was eagerly waiting for the next one.

One alumnus, Karen Garczynski-Brizzie, joined the Severna Park band in 1991 and was in the color guard until she graduated in 1994. During college, she returned to Severna Park High School to be a color guard instructor, and after she graduated from college, she was the director of Powell’s color guard and indoor guard.

“Mr. Powell was more than just a teacher. He was a friend, mentor and, for many of us, like a second father,” Garczynski-Brizzie said. “He not only taught us how to be a musician and performer; he taught us manners, time management, self-discipline and organizational skills. How to be a leader, how to be respectful, responsible, how to work as a team, how to solve problems and how to be a good friend to others. He also taught us strength, resilience and persistence.

“Some people saw him as a tyrant, but he was a kind, caring man full of stories, knowledge and who loved all of his students,” she said. “He only wanted us to perform at our highest potential because he knew what we were all capable of doing and held high expectations for us.”

Powell and the program he built were so loved and admired that after graduating, many students returned to be band camp counselors, and some were employed on Powell’s staff as instructors and field show coordinators.

“Many parents continued to chaperone on trips well after their children graduated from high school,” Garczynski-Brizzie said. “Mr. Powell even had former parents return to help chaperone their grandchildren. We all did this because we loved being a part of this family, the joy of being around Mr. Powell, his students, chaperones and staff. How amazing that one person created this camaraderie.”

Several former alumni shared thoughts online. In addition to revealing his last conversation with Powell, Weinstein said, “He was an incredible friend, and for his time and period, was the best in the state of Maryland. I truly understood his gruff exterior as that was his way of motivating and pushing with his style of passion.”

A 1993 graduate, Rob Weiss said, “I had never touched a trombone before, but he believed in me, even putting me in the jazz band as someone who had never played the instrument. That faith spoke volumes, as I still play the same horn today, playing in the church orchestra.”

John Manley called Powell the most impactful teacher and leader that Manley and many of his peers have known.

“It’s fitting I saw this post (about Powell) while sitting in a jazz club in Stuttgart waiting for a big band to play,” Manley wrote. “My love for big, brassy sound comes directly from my time getting yelled at in swing band for missing the syncopation. RIP RTP. You are a legend.”

Powell is survived by Joan; two brothers-in-law; his nieces; great-nieces; a great-nephew; and two former students who considered Powell to be an adoptive father.

A private funeral service will be held in Frostburg. Powell’s family and friends will celebrate his life and receive visitors at Singleton Funeral & Cremation Services, P.A., in Glen Burnie on December 14 from 4:00pm-7:00pm.

Joan does not want the day to be sad. She wants it to be a day of stories and fond recollections for the larger-than-life figure who would have spent every day of his life working with Severna Park High School students if he could.

“He’ll be looking down because that’s what he wanted: another reunion,” Joan said.