Bobby Owens' Obituary
Bobby Owens of Longview, Texas, departed this life on January 27, 2024. He was born in 1933 to Grady and Annie Lee Spruill Owens of Grapeland, Texas, and served in the Headquarters Battery of the 623d Field Artillery Battalion, during the occupation of Korea. Owens attained the rank of Master Sergeant and was honorably discharged in 1955. After his return, he met and married Dorothy Ann Coleman of Elkhart in 1956. Owens completed his studies at Texas Tech University in 1959 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Rockwell International hired him as an engineer for its Valve Division at Sulphur Springs, which made products for the oil & gas industry. He then took a job in Greenville with LTV Electrosystems, helping to design military aircraft. When corporate overreach led to layoffs, Owens declined a transfer, so his family could remain in Sulphur Springs. With Dorothy’s help, in 1970, he opened his own business, B & R Development Company, where he designed and built special machines for manufacturing plants. Remarkably creative, Owens could not only visualize, invent, and draw a machine to do whatever the client needed (on a drafting board), he also had the metal-working skills to build the entire machine himself. Always too modest and never asking enough pay for the work he did, he also worried about liabilities if someone was hurt operating one of his machines. In 1979, Owens made the painful decision to close his business and take a job with Stemco in Longview, where he worked in process engineering, to design the flow of products through the plant. He made many friends at Stemco, stayed active in the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and retired in 1998. Over the next 20 years, Bobby and Dorothy traveled to nearly all 50 states and Canada, but their first loves were their children, grandchildren, and church family at Judson Road Church of Christ, where he was a member for 45 years and an elder for about 30. A talented singer and guitarist, Bobby especially enjoyed playing with his daughter and grandsons in a family bluegrass band called Them Texas Boys. After Dorothy passed away in 2018, Bobby quietly encouraged his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, who loved him dearly, and began to rebuild his family farm at Grapeland, which his ancestors have owned since the 1830s. He is survived by his son, Dr. Jeffrey Owens, Ph.D., of Tyler; his daughter and son-in-law, Kathy and Tracy Blankenship of Lake Gladewater; his two grandsons, Klint Blankenship (wife Nineveh) and Barrett Blankenship (wife Shannon), of White Oak; and five great-grandchildren: Fannin, Amira, Travis, Lily Ann, and James Blankenship. Also his brother James G. Owens (wife Nancy) of College Station, sister Bonnie Owens Keen (husband James) of Grapeland, sister-in-law Juanel Owens of Palestine, many nephews and nieces; and siblings of his wife: Billy, Jimmy, and Edd Coleman (wife Laura) of Elkhart; Marie Pierson of McKinney, Linda Gammill (husband Don) of Sulphur Springs, and Mary Quinn of Longview; as well as son in law's mother, Eva Brown, the mother of his son-in-law. The family wishes to thank the doctors and staff of Good Shepherd Hospital for their kind and good care of him during the past year, and their church family for spiritual support and friendship. The visitation is scheduled at Rader Funeral Home, Thursday, Feb. 1, at 6:00 p.m. The funeral will be at Rader at 10:00 a.m., Friday, Feb. 2, followed by a graveside service at Davis Cemetery in Grapeland, Texas, at 3:00. Jeff O’Rear, the minister at Judson Road Church of Christ, will officiate at both services.
What’s your fondest memory of Bobby?
What’s a lesson you learned from Bobby?
Share a story where Bobby's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Bobby you’ll never forget.
How did Bobby make you smile?
