[The following is from Barbara Powers (Bara).]
My sister, Alison Mary Powers (Allie) of Lafayette, CO (formerly of Northbrook, IL) passed peacefully in the early hours of January 31, 2021. After a years-long battle with cancer, she made the transition to the great beyond with her daughter Sarah, her sister Barb, and her close friend Cathy by her side.
Allie dedicated herself to contributing to the advancement of our dad’s Perceptual Control Theory after our mom passed in 2004. Without our mom at the helm, someone needed to step in to arrange the conferences and handle other Control Systems Group business. Allie had the energy and focus to pull together a number of events, and did so with careful consideration for the utmost comfort and convenience for all concerned. She was not one to do anything off-handedly. She dove in tooth and nail, and was not satisfied until every particular need was fulfilled.
Not only was she handling CSG issues, but she also was a caregiver for our dad for nearly eight years, ensuring his comfort and stability in his home where he moved in 2005, also in Lafayette, Colorado. All the while, she was raising her daughter and furthering her own education.
I believe she felt one of her most important achievements was facilitating the acceptance of Dad’s work into the archives at Northwestern University. This was no small feat, requiring many hours of scouring through extensive boxes and bins of files and records, cataloging and packing everything to be moved. Allie packed all those boxes in a van and drove from Lafayette, Colorado, to Evanston, Illinois, delivering them triumphantly in person!
Allie developed a close, personal relationship with a number of members of CSG (now IAPCT). She was genuinely interested in their lives, how they became connected to our parents, and in what direction their work would take them. Allie was made aware of the emails regarding the 50th anniversary coming up. She was excited to know an anniversary edition of Dad’s first book was to be published, happy to know the word will continue to be spread.
Allie was preceded in death by our mom, Mary Powers, in 2004 and our Dad, Bill Powers, in 2013. She is survived by her daughter, Sarah Sorensen, our brother Denison Powers, myself, Barbara Powers, and my two sons, Derek and Ethan.