Daniel L. Power

Professor Daniel L. Power passed peacefully August 12, 2023, surrounded by his family. He is survived by his wife, Justine, his children Danny, Mike, Bobby, Amy, and Emily, his sister Catherine, and his grandchildren Brendan and Kennedy Power; Sarah, Katie, and Maggie Power; Louis Power; Annie, Katie, and Owen Blount; and Nancy and Taylor Nguyen. He was preceded in death by dear brothers Bob and Tom Power, and baby sister Margaret Anne.

Power was born January 7, 1934, to Louis and Alfreda Power, who raised their children in Anamosa and Tipton, Iowa. He graduated from Campion Jesuit High School in Wisconsin in 1952. He earned his bachelor’s and law degrees from St. Louis University in 1957 and 1960, respectively, earning admission to the Jesuit National Honor Society while supporting himself through school simultaneously. He concluded his formal education at Georgetown University Law School, earning his LLM in 1964 while working as General Counsel to the Government Activities Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Government Operations, chaired by the Hon. Jack Brooks of Texas.

Power married Justine Anne Freeman in St. Louis on October 15, 1960. They moved to Washington, D.C. thereafter, where they had four children over the next ten years (Daniel Louis, Michael Sean, Robert Brendan, and Amy Marie); Emily Anne was to join later in Dad’s beloved state of Iowa.

Besides working on Congressman Brook’s subcommittee, Power was a Legislative Attorney for the Congressional Research Service at the U.S. Library of Congress, and eventually became a Trial Attorney in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where over the course of six-and-a-half years tried over 250 civil tax refund suits before 40 different Federal District Court judges across the Midwest.

Power moved his family to Des Moines in 1971, where he accepted a teaching position at Drake University Law School, specializing in the areas of Federal Income Taxation, Evidence, Trial Practice and Advocacy, as well as being appointed the Director of the Law School’s Legal Clinic. Power was one of the first in the country to develop a legal clinic, making Drake Law School a much-emulated pioneer in the area of clinical legal education. In 1975 he received the rank of full professor of law and also Order of Coif. He began two rural legal aid programs (in Boone and Jasper counties), the Student Judicial Law Clerk Program, and the Senior Citizens Legal Services Program.

His crowning achievement while at Drake was the creation in 1987 of a state-of-the-art home for Drake Law School’s Legal Clinic, the Neal and Bea Smith Law Center, secured with help of the Hon. Neal Smith. Under Power’s leadership, the Neal and Bea Smith Law Center continued to shape and inspire countless Drake Law students, furnish critical legal services to those in need, as well as provide trial advocacy training and other professional development to public service attorneys, primarily those with Legal Services Corporation with the addition of the National Training and Resource Center for Public Service Attorney’s Professional Development, for which he also served as Director. Power stepped down as Director of the Law Center in 1994, but maintained his zest for its mission, continuing to fundraise and lobby for its programs at the federal and state levels for many years. At the Drake Legal Clinic’s 50th anniversary in October 2022, the Law School announced the naming of the courtroom in the Neal and Bea Smith Law Center as the Daniel L. Power Courtroom, to honor Power’s legacy and impact on generations of Drake Law alumni.

Even after stepping down from his role with the Clinic, Power continued to be a generous mentor and inspiration to students and lawyers (and others) by developing and presenting a motivational speaking program. Power encouraged his younger legal audiences to not simply grow their skills, but to strive for wisdom in a manner that uplifted their personal values, ideals, and potential as unique individuals.

When he wasn’t holding court at the Legal Clinic, Power found time to master distance running and share his ample musical talents through a number of productions with the Des Moines Community Playhouse and impromptu singing sessions around town. Perhaps his favorite manner of entertaining, however, was regaling any captive audience with his singing, especially any song of the Irish variety. For decades, Power and his rich, bellowing voice were a mainstay among St. Patrick’s Day festivities at both Drake and his longtime parish home of St. Augustin Catholic Church.

A visitation with the family will be held at Iles Dunn’s Funeral Home, 2121 Grand Avenue in Des Moines on Sunday, August 20 from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm. A funeral mass will be held on Monday, August 21 at 10:00 am at Saint Augustin Church, with a luncheon to follow at the parish following burial at Glendale Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his honor to the Drake University Law School Legal Clinic. Online condolences may be expressed at www.ilesfuneralhomes.com/obituary.