James David Power III was born on May 30, 1931, in Worcester, Mass.
He graduated from College of the Holy Cross in 1953 and earned an MBA at the University of Pennsylvania in 1959.
Power served as a Coast Guard officer for four years in the mid-1950s and made three voyages to the Arctic and one to the Antarctic, relaying data to scientists for a better understanding of the polar regions.
Power applied lessons learned from his Coast Guard stint to his startup.
“You have to be true to yourself, true to everyone else that you run into,” he told the Coast Guard Compass in 2012. “I really learned teammates count and that you have to have the environment where everyone trusts everyone else.”
He worked as a financial analyst at Ford Motor Co. before joining Marplan as a marketing research consultant for General Motor’s Buick and GMC Truck and Coach divisions.
He also served as marketing research executive for construction and farm equipment manufacturer J.I. Case Co. and director of corporate planning at McCulloch Corp., a Los Angeles-based engine manufacturer.
He received the Automotive Hall of Fame’s Distinguished Service Citation in 1992, which is awarded to seven of the industry’s most accomplished leaders each year, and the Lone Sailor Award in 2012, which is given to sea service veterans who have stood out in their careers while carrying on the Navy’s core values of honor, courage and commitment. Power was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2014.
Julie Power died of multiple sclerosis in 2002. The Power family started the Kenrose Kitchen Table Foundation, which supports organizations honoring the memory of Dave and Julie Power, including the National Coast Guard Museum, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and College of the Holy Cross.
He is survived by his wife, Joan, whom he married in 2003, four children, their spouses, two step-daughters and numerous grandchildren.
