Dorothy Mary Owen of Beaumont died Saturday, July 18, at the age of 96 of a brief illness after a long, healthy life. She was born on February 8, 1912 at home in the village of Bracken, near San Antonio, Texas, the first child of Jane Cox and Ernest Fischer, U.S.-born children of European immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, Switzerland, and Germany. Dorothy lost her mother in the influenza pandemic of 1918, and grew up mainly around San Antonio, along with her younger brother, Henry, in the homes of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Graduating from high school as the Salutatorian of her class in 1930, she was awarded an academic scholarship to Incarnate Word University, excelling for the one year she was able to attend college. She married Edward Arthur Owen during 1932, a union that lasted until his 1975 death. Their two children, Donald Edward Owen and Cissie Jane Owen, are both professors at Lamar University, Beaumont.
Dorothy was an accomplished homemaker, excellent cook, seamstress, and gardener as well as an avid reader and crossword-puzzle solver. She instilled a love of reading and writing in her children, both of whom are published authors. During World War II, Dorothy contributed to the war effort by operating a branch office of the Western Union Telegraph Company from her home. Her brother, Henry, a career Air Force flyer, died while in the service. Dorothy moved with her husband, Eddie, from San Antonio to Corpus Christi, Galveston, and Fort Worth while raising her children with care and love. After Eddie’s death she lived in the Washington, D.C. area with her daughter, moving to Beaumont during 1997.
In addition to her son and daughter, she is survived by three granddaughters, Alicon Owen-Schmall and husband, Michael Schmall, of Farmington Hills, Michigan, Arleen Wenzel and husband, Scott Wenzel, of Canton, Michigan, and Alissa Haas and husband, Major Darin Haas, of Clarksville, Tennessee, and a grandson, Donald Edward Owen, Jr. of Beaumont, as well as seven great-grandchildren: Sophia and David Schmall, Christopher and Ashley Wenzel, and Connor, Caitlin, and Claire Haas.
The family requests that no flowers be sent, but those who wish to do so may send tax-deductible contributions to either the Lamar University Class of 1957 Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 10005, LUS, Beaumont, Texas 77710, or Furry Purries, 2605 Louisiana, Beaumont, TX 77702.
