Coweta County Board of Education Chairman Asa Mitchell Powell, Jr., has died.

Powell, 53, was elected to the Coweta County Board of Education in July, 2004, and was elected Chairman of the Board of Education in January, 2005. He was a Mercer and Harvard-educated attorney, the Coweta County Board of Commission Attorney and a partner at Glover and Davis, P.A., in Newnan.

Funeral services are today 2 p.m., at Central Baptist Church, with visitation following in the church fellowship hall.

The family respectfully requests that flowers not be sent and memorial contributions be made in his honor, to NCARC/Rutledge, 61 Hospital Road, Newnan, or C.O.R.R.A.L., 52 Oliver Potts Road, Newnan, 30263, or to Central Baptist Church, P.O. Box 1221, Newnan, 30264.

Powell passed away early Friday morning, November 17, after an extended illness. Born June 2, 1953, he was a native of Newnan and, the son of Asa Mitchell Powell, Sr. and Lantie Powell, and husband of Anne Quinn Powell.

“He will be missed,” said Coweta County Superintendent Blake Bass. “He was an outstanding board member. It is very unusual for a first-term board member to be elected chairman… in his first year in office. I attribute that to his persona – he was a strong, decisive leader.”