Obituary for
Kent Owen
Kent Owen, 77, died Dec. 5, four months after suffering a traumatic brain injury in a fall.
He was the son of Herbert T. and Mary Ellen (Yarling) Owen. Proud of his seven-generation Hoosier heritage, he was born Jan. 30, 1938. His first Indiana home was Spencer. He then lived in Rochester, Shelbyville, and Huntington. He has lived in Bloomington since 1968.
He attended Huntington High School, Culver Naval Summer School, Amherst College, and Indiana University. At IU, where he earned two degrees, he was president of the Interfraternity Council, chairman of the Organized Party, and a member of the GE College Bowl team that appeared on national television.
Although in the present day he called himself an “agnostic Republican,” he once was on the Republican primary ballot for state senate and for mayor of Bloomington. He then limited his political activities to private conversations and occasional articles.
He worked for the original Saturday Evening Post its last year in Philadelphia when he titled an article about Columbus, In., “Athens of the Prairie,” a tag line that remained for many years. He taught literature and writing at Albion College, Earlham College, and Indiana University.. He also worked as a “wordsmith” at the Agency for Instructional Television, and was published in the.American Spectator and the Wall Street Journal.
He was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, which he served nationally as Mystagogue, and was co-author of its Creed in 1964. He also wrote the history of the IU Greek system and edited “The Bicentennial Report on the American College Fraternity in the Year 2000.”
His community activities included the boards of the Society of Indiana Pioneers, Public Health Nursing Association, the Monroe County Public Library, and MCPL Foundation. He also was alumni representative on IU’s Union Board, Republican precinct committeeman, and a member of Bloomington Rotary, where for many years he asked the “last question” of the speakers. He also contributed to WFIU’s “Speak Your Mind” and was a panelist in WTIU’s “Pro and Con.”
He was known as a true gentleman who spoke eloquently, smoked a pipe, and wore bow ties.
He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Suzann Mitten Owen; daughter Marianne Mitten Owen of Lafayette; son Jordan Yarling Owen (Laura Brown) of Traverse City, Mi.; and brother John W. Owen of London, England, and his children.
He was a member and elder of First Presbyterian Church in Bloomington where his service will be Saturday, Dec. 12, at 2 p..m. with a reception afterwards. Internment will be at Forest Hill Cemetery in Shelbyville. The family will receive friends at their home from 5-7 p.m. the following week.
He chose the Monroe County Public Library Foundation for memorial contributions.
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