Wilbur O. "Billy" Powers

Billy Powers died after a brief illness on Monday 2 November 2026 at his home in Florence, South Carolina. He was 90. His death was announced by Clemson University on 3 November and reported by regional media including FOX Carolina.

Clemson President Ben Ayers said: "Today, Clemson has lost a truly exceptional person whose generosity and quiet service changed countless lives." Wendy York, dean of the business college, said he had given it "far more than a name." Clemson's carillon bells sounded a tribute on 4 November, and memorial wreaths were placed at the Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business, at the campus memorial to his grandson Chandler Burns and at other buildings his gifts supported.

A celebration of life was held at 2 pm on Thursday 5 November 2026 at Central United Methodist Church in Florence, followed by a private family committal.

Wilbur Owens Powers was born on 14 April 1936 and grew up in Timmonsville, in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina, with his sister and their parents, Fred and Katherine Powers. The family farmed, kept a country store and ran a grist mill, and his days started with chores at 3:30 in the morning before school.

When the family home burned down, everyone survived but they lost their possessions. Neighbours and friends took them in and helped them rebuild. Powers later called it a defining moment. "You always helped your neighbors," he said in a 2020 interview. "You'd work for your neighbor for nothing, and they would do the same for you."

He graduated from high school in 1953 and went to Clemson College to study civil engineering, joining the Air Force ROTC in the hope of becoming a pilot. In 1956 his father became ill and he left Clemson to run the family farm.

About a year after leaving Clemson, Powers went to work for the South Carolina Department of Transportation. A few years later he set up on his own as an independent land surveyor, and a small construction company followed. Powers Construction Company, based in Florence, grew into one of the largest commercial construction companies in the region, building condominiums, churches, schools and government facilities throughout the Southeast.

With his wife Ann he expanded into real estate, aviation, manufacturing and other fields, with enterprises in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Friends described the couple as a complementary team: he brought the energy and persistence, she the patience and steady judgement.

His love of flying began with a lesson taken while he worked for the highway department. He earned his pilot's licence and ran a passenger charter service, through which he made aircraft available to organ transplant patients and others in medical need.

Powers was married to Ann Powers for 44 years. His two children, Tim and Penny, both graduated from Clemson, as did three of his grandchildren. His grandson Chandler Burns, a 2015 Clemson graduate, died after a sudden illness the year after graduating, and the family named a tower of the business school building in his memory.

A man of strong Christian faith, he was known for private acts of kindness as well as public giving: paying bills for people in need, flying a sick child to medical care and arranging a fishing trip for a friend with cancer. "You haven't really helped someone until you do things for people who can't do something back in return," he often said.

He was a devoted Clemson Tigers supporter, a member of IPTAY and the Greater Pee Dee Clemson Club, and served on the Clemson University Foundation board of directors.

In 2020 Billy and Ann Powers gave 60 million dollars to Clemson's College of Business, the largest academic gift in the university's history, and it was renamed the Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business. The couple also funded distinguished professorships in civil engineering and construction science.

Clemson awarded him an honorary doctorate of humanities in 2004 and the Clemson Alumni Association's Distinguished Service Award in 2011. He was an Academic Cornerstone Champion, a member of the Next Century Society and a founding member of the university's Leadership Circle.

Through the W.O. and Ann Powers Foundation, founded in 2016, his support continues for families, education and community causes in Florence and beyond.