Melvyn "Ray" Owen (Lebanon)'s Obituary
Melvyn Ray Owen, son of Jess and Mary Alma Garrett Owen, was born December 4, 1939, in Bowie, Texas. He departed this life Sunday, April 27, 2014, in Mercy Hospital, in Lebanon, Missouri, at the age of seventy-four years, four months, and twenty-three days.
On July 19, 1958, he was united in marriage to Lynda Nell Kelly, and to this union two daughters and one son were born.
He was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers; and two sisters..
Ray is survived by his wife, Lynda, of the home; two daughters, Tamera Owen, and her husband David Boyd, of Crossville, Alabama, and Shawn Wiest, and her husband, Michael, of Riverside, California; a son, Robert Owen, of Riverside, California; two sisters, one brother; seven grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; as well as a host of other relatives and friends.
He was a general building contractor in Southern California for twenty-eight years, building custom homes and commercial buildings. While in California, he also raised and showed horses both in that State and across the nation. In 1995, he moved to Missouri and became a cattle rancher for the last nineteen years.
He greatly enjoyed deep sea fishing and enjoyed making several trips a year to the Sea of Cortez. He had a keen sense of direction for his life from his earliest years. His family was very important to him and he especially enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Ray was a loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and a caring neighbor and friend. He will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by all those who knew and loved him.
There will be no services for Ray. Private cremation will take place.
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