Record bequest to Massey University Foundation

 
A Palmerston North couple have made the largest donation received by the Massey University Foundation, an endowment of more than $1.2 million.

The late Kenneth and Elizabeth Powell decided several years ago that they wanted upon their deaths to establish a fund to support the study of technology in engineering and health at Massey, although neither of them had been students at the University. Mr Powell, an engineer and specialist in aircraft maintenance, said at the time that as technology and health had been central to their lives they wanted to give young enthusiasts in their home city "an extra edge".

Mr Powell, a World War II veteran who served in the Pacific as instrument fitter with the Royal New Zealand Air Force, died in February this year, aged 88. He did his apprenticeship as an instrument fitter with Union Airways at the Palmerston North Airport at Milson and later established Aero and General Instruments Ltd on the corner of Bourke and Cuba Streets. Mrs Powell was a registered nurse, who trained at Wellington Hospital, and completed her training as a midwife at Palmerston North Hospital, where she worked as well as at the former Rostrata Maternity Home in the city. They married in 1958. She died in October 2006, aged 96.

To read how this bequest benefited future generations of students, click here