Roberta Ann (Whayne) Powell died on Tuesday, May 6, 2014, after a courageous battle with lung cancer, at her home in Cookeville, Tennessee. Born in DeWitt, Arkansas, on July 31, 1950, to Earl and Mary (Cotter) Whayne, she was raised in eastern Arkansas and the Memphis area. She studied computer programming in Memphis and worked her way up from a computer operator at Texas Instruments in Dallas to a Programmer Analyst at First Data in Memphis. Along the way, she secured a degree in Computer Information Systems at State Tech in Memphis. She was widely admired by those who worked with her for her professionalism and competence and known by all who knew her for her good humor, gentle kindness, optimism, and graciousness. She smiled easily and laughed heartily. Imbued with great tenacity and determination in her everyday life, she lived her life to the fullest even as her cancer progressed to its ultimate conclusion. At the time of her death, she was surrounded by her loving family, including her husband, Stephen Powell of the home, and daughters Michelle Gibson of Memphis and Raven Hardin of West Memphis. Her brother Earl of Tallahassee, Florida, and sister Jeannie Whayne of Fayetteville, Arkansas, were at her side at the end as well. She also leaves behind a niece, Emily Whayne of Tampa, Florida, and seven grandchildren whom she treasured: Adam Davis of the home, Lauren Hardin, Brandon Hardin, Kevin Gibson, Annalise Gibson, Colin Hardin, and Lonnie Hardin, all in the Memphis area. She was looking forward to the birth of her first great-grandchild and one of the last things she did was admire the mail-order baby clothes she had purchased for her soon-to-be-born great-grandson. She will be greatly missed and her memory treasured. Visitation is scheduled for Thursday, May 8, at 5 p.m. at the chapel at Forest Hill Funeral Home on Whitten Road in Memphis with a funeral service following, also at Forest Hill, on Friday, May 9 at 10 a.m.