ROBERT DOUGLAS OWEN 1943 -1999 “BOB ” BOB OWEN PASSED AWAY OCT. 21, 1999 AT HIS HOME IN BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI Bob was born in Cleveland Ms to Hubert D. Owen of Hazelhurst, MS and Ethel Cowart Owen of Merigold, MS. His father was in the military and he moved around a bit as a young boy, living in Chicago and Memphis. He went in the Army after high school and served in Germany, where he learned to love camping and developed his ‘free spirit’. After leaving the Army at Fort Dix, NJ, he went to California where he worked at several jobs trying to find his niche. he was in the electronics business, owned a bar, was a salesman in several areas. He came to Biloxi, MS about 10 years ago living a couple of blocks from his beloved gulf coast..he soon landed a job at Sears in the shopping center and his sales experience really paid off in the past eight years he became the top sales person in the electronic department. Bob wasn’t a much of a drinker while he was on the coast, except for when he went out to eat on the holidays. Most of his friends here on the coast thought he must have had stock in Pepsi Cola, cause he drank about 10 to 15 a day. In September, 1999, Bob had angioplasty procedure when he had a breathing problem which had developed over the last several years. After his stay in the hospital, he took a couple weeks off work and really felt like he was 30 years old He got back into his routine and was working in the yard when he went into the house and suffered a ruptured aneurysm in his stomach and died immediately. He did not suffer nor had a lingering illness and was at beloved home. Bob will be buried at the Veteran’s National Cemetery, in Biloxi, MS, on October 26, 1999, where his soul will rest in peace! If you need to respond or need additional information, I’m at jcbarrett@email.com JC Barrett after several tries (10/29/99) Thanks JC, It came thru but my computer wouldn't convert the graphic. Was it a photo of Bob? If so, maybe you could send it to me in a gif or jpeg format. Just to add a few items to your comments: Bob's birthday was March 11, 1943 He & I lived together in Chicago from Nov 1960 to late Jan 1961 when I left to join the Air Force. Bob finished high school then joined the Army in Aug 1963 serving til Aug 1966. He pulled a rare "double" while in the Army - serving consecutive overseas assignments in Korea then Germany. We got together in Germany in Apr 1965 & toured Europe for a week. It was the first time we'd seen each other since I left Chicago in 1961. I'd tried to see him in Korea while I was in Japan with the Air Force in 1964 but a cholera outbreak prevented it. Not long after his discharge in 1966, he moved to San Diego where his mom got transferred. He especially liked the area near the airport called Ocean Beach and lived there for many years. I visited him often from then until 1986 when the airline I worked for filed bankruptcy. During those years he was in rent-a-car management, had his own electronics company, was a certified hypnotist, and sold real estate. Bob came to Denver in 1986 to help me pack when my airline career crashed. I didn't see him again until 1988 when he decided to leave San Diego. I'd told him about a bar a friend here in Fayetteville had for sale and he ended up moving here & buying it. I flew to San Diego, helped him pack up, attended a great all night farewell party his friends held, then we drove back. He ran the bar for a year but got tired of the hours and he was restless to find his "roots". So, in October, 1989, I helped Bob pack up a moving van and he left for Mississippi. He had sold the bar a few weeks earlier. He went first to Vicksburg and got re-acquainted with his relatives and a year later moved to Biloxi. He never regretted returning to Mississippi. He felt like he belonged there - to use his words. I had planned on coming down for a visit earlier this year but my health forced its cancellation. I really regret that now in light of what happened. Please feel free to send this out to the same e-mail list you used before. Is it possible to send me the list - Bob and I shared many friends over the years and I don't know which ones you were able to send the message to. JAKE LAMKINS (10/29/99) Dear Walt & Carolyn, Thanks so much for sending the photos. I appreciate it. Bob and I first met about this time of the year back in 1960 when I was finishing my last year of high school at Memphis Tech. Bob was living with his aunt then but returned to Chicago after school was out. I visited him there that Summer and then moved to Chicago just after Halloween. We lived together til I enlisted in the Air Force the next year. We kept in touch over the years, did lots of traveling and made many great memories. No matter where he lived I was able to visit him since I worked for Frontier Airlines and could travel cheaply. That came to an end in 1986 when the company went bankrupt (I had been with them 22 years) and I settled here. Bob had been around the San Diego area a long time but decided he wanted to buy a small bar here and get out of that area - it had gotten too much like Los Angeles. I flew out & we drove a moving van back here in late 1988. What a going away party there was before we left. Bob stayed here a year but just couldn’t get settled in. So just about Halloween in 1989 we loaded up another moving van and he was off to Vicksburg. I was real pleased he was able to re-establish ties with his family down there. He’d been estranged so long. He ended up in Biloxi because he had plans to settle there with an old girlfriend from San Diego. She “dear johned” him but he stayed since he liked it there. Over the years Bob & I collected knick knack kinda things. He usually had his on his coffee table. They were sculptures, metal things, puzzles, etc. If nobody wants those, I would like them. There was also a painting by a mutual friend named John Dixon that I always liked. It has reddish brown tones and there’s a stylized man of sorts with an arm outstretched. I would also like that if nobody else wants it. I’ll be glad to pay for the shipping. 1999 was a bad year for losing friends. Another good friend, Stan Needham, in Jackson Hole died. Bob & he were friends too. Bob lived in Jackson about 20 years ago for awhile - then the cold winter ran him out. I made a website for Bob. If you’re online it’s at http:// FYV.tripod.com/BobOwen My e-mail is JakeLamkins@yahoo.com if you want to contact me. Thanks again for the photos and your friendship for Bob. Jake Lamkins (3/17/00)