Rev. Joe Powell, Jr. is the youngest of three children from the union of the late Mr. Louis P. Powell and Mrs. Bertha A. (Foster) Powell. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee on January 1, 1932. As an infant his parents moved to Lake St John, LA, (to fulfill his father’s desire to farm) where he was raised and educated in Lake St. John and Ferriday, LA school systems. He grew up in a Christian family where his father was the Senior Deacon and his mother the Church Mother.