Robert P. Powers, 63, died quietly at home in Santa Fe, N.M. on Jan. 2, 2016, following a courageous 10-month battle with cancer.
Bob was born in Laguna Beach in 1952, attended El Morro and Thurston schools and graduated Laguna Beach High School in 1970. He was the son of Porter and Carol Powers, owners of Carol’s Book Store. As a high school student Bob spent many summers working at the Pottery Shack and enjoying the afternoon serenity of Shaw’s Cove. Throughout his later life, Powers made many visits back to Laguna Beach, often jogging the tidelines of the Laguna Coast from Cleo Street northward.
Powers studied archaeology at the University of Arizona and achieved his master’s degree at the University of New Mexico. He began his career by working on excavations at Arroyo Hondo Pueblo, near Santa Fe, for the School for Advanced Research in the early 1970s. He then joined the National Park Service for archaeological projects in Chaco Canyon, and in the 1980s he led NPS’s major archaeological survey of Bandelier National Monument. Powers authored numerous research papers and archeological publications and was a highly regarded speaker at national archeological conferences. Powers retired from NPS in 2007 as a respected researcher who particularly enjoyed mentoring younger archaeologists and encouraging collegiality in fieldwork. He will be remembered by his peers not only for his archeological intellect but also for his modest and humble while always pensive style.
Powers is survived by his wife of 30 years, Willow Roberts Powers of Santa Fe, his sister and brother-in-law Candace and Frank Ercoli of Laguna Beach, and nephews Robert, Daniel, and Christopher, who shared an especially fond affection with their “Uncle Bob.”
Donations in Powers’ memory can be made to Friends of Pecos NHP, earmarked for the Cordell Prize and mailed to P.O. Box 18, Pecos, N.M., 87552. A memorial gathering will be held at a later date in Santa Fe.
