Two deaths miles apart, linked by the cold

One died in a South Jersey tent, ignoring offers for shelter. The other had a roof over his head in Philadelphia's western suburbs, but may have lacked the resources to keep the home heated.

Nothing about Eugene Powell, 59, and Kenneth Williams, 73, appeared to link the two men except the bitter cold that played a role in their deaths this past week.

Each also may reflect segments of society that become particularly vulnerable when the temperature tumbles: the homeless, the elderly, the infirm.

"Watch out for your neighbor," Montgomery County Coroner Walter Hofman implored Thursday. "Have some compassion."

Home for Eugene Powell was the red tent in the woods off Route 206, sandwiched between a couple of two-story houses and a Wawa in Southampton, Burlington County.

Powell was a familiar face in the area, sometimes accepting coffee or a few dollars from sympathetic customers.

His only child, Laurie Bush, 40, said Thursday she had offered him her home to stay in a few times. People who lived near his tent also tried to get him help.

But Powell, who family members said had a history of alcoholism, usually resisted.

So when state troopers found his body in the tent Saturday, when the temperature had dropped to 10 degrees, those who knew Powell were sad but not surprised.

"We knew this was going to happen," said Amanda Campbell, 23, whose house is near the tent. "We just hoped we could have done something for him."

Burlington County officials did not perform an autopsy on Powell because no foul play was involved.

Powell was arrested two weeks ago for trying to steal a cup of coffee. His daughter guesses he did it so he could spend time in a heated cell.

When Powell left jail, Bush said, she tried to make sure he had food. It was the last time they saw each other.

"I have more guilt than anyone could have," said Bush, of Lumberton. "I knew he was out there."

Powell held a construction job 30 years ago but had struggled to find work since then, Bush said. He and his wife divorced when Bush was a year old.

"He's always been a loner, a wanderer," Bush said. "This is the life he's lived for probably the last 25 years."

Powell's family has a plot at the First Baptist Church of Vincentown cemetery in Southampton, Mayor James Young Sr. said.

Young, who knew of Powell but never met him, called funeral homes after his death, and Powell's daughter then contacted church officials to plan a funeral.

The service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bradley & Stow Funeral Home in Medford. Powell's cremated remains are expected to be placed in his family's plot.

When police officers arrived at the house on Skippack Pike in Blue Bell, Montgomery County, on Tuesday morning they found a home that appeared to be in the midst of renovations: missing drywall, a lack of electricity, and no heat.

Upstairs, they found Kenneth Williams unresponsive on the floor. Near his feet was a small space heater.

If the heater was working, its effect was minimal, according to Whitpain Township Police Chief Mark Smith. An officer on the scene "couldn't feel the heat from it," Smith said.

The officer began CPR and called for emergency responders, Smith said.

Williams' wife, Tammy Williams, told police that she and her husband had spent the night at the house, Smith said. When the officer asked Tammy Williams why they had stayed at the house, and she said simply that it was their home and her husband had a space heater.

Emergency responders took Kenneth Williams to Mercy Suburban Hospital, where he later died.

Bob Moody, 66, who lives next door, said that he believed the house had been without power for at least two years, and that when the couple stayed at the house, they lived mainly in a Winnebago on the front yard because their pipes had exploded a few winters before. They also sometimes stayed in North Philadelphia, Moody said.

Moody called Kenneth Williams "the nicest guy," but admitted he did not know him well. He said Williams appeared to be in declining health, needing a walker during recent strolls in the neighborhood.

After Williams' death, Smith said, the township declared the house uninhabitable.