Mardeka was born March 22, 1947, to Morris Jr. and Sarah Hitchcock Powell in Akron, Ohio.  Mardeka matriculated in the Akron Public School; graduating from John R. Buchtel High school. She then went on to Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio.

She was a paraprofessional in the Akron Public School System, Akron Art Institute receptionist, and Walgreens clerk (in Houston TX, where she relocated).  She received Christ at the Mount Olive Baptist Church under the leadership of Rev. Howard B. Washington.  Her voice rang out a joyful noise to the Lord from youth to adulthood.  She enjoyed her nieces and treated them as her own. She was kind and generous.  She was loved by many who knew her.

She was preceded in death by her parents and sister Karen Lynn Powell.

Mardeka is survived by her sister, Gail M. Powell-Fedrick; nieces, Nicole M. Fedrick and Danielle R Fedrick; great-niece, Gabrielle S. Ancrum; Aunt Edna J. Hitchcock; cousins Ronald J. Williams, Melanie M. Williams; Special Friend Wanda Simmons, and a host of other relatives and friends.