Frank Owen
Posted: June 20, 2021
Frank Owen was born in 1953 at Doster Hospital in Columbus, Mississippi. He was from a privileged family of lawyers, politicians, judges, and journalists. He was given a lot of opportunities at birth that others do not have. He tried his best to lead an interesting, intellectual life, to benefit others less fortunate than he was.
He was lucky enough to go to good schools in Columbus, Mississippi, in turbulent times in the 1950s and 1960s. In fifth and sixth grade, he had two teachers—Lorraine Sparks and Virginia Mae Ferrill—who taught him many things, but very important was English grammar. This carried over to learning grammar in other languages—German, Italian, French, and Spanish. Learning those languages bridged the cultural gap with people in various countries around the globe. That was one of the most satisfying and rewarding things to him, becoming friends with people in other lands and cultures, who looked upon us Americans as foreigners.
In high school, he edited his high school newspaper, The Lee High Mirror, and planned to follow family tradition and become a journalist himself. But along the way a friend, Rett Russell, convinced him to continue on with technical studies in Mechanical Engineering. So that’s what he did. He taught Mechanical Engineering at Maine Maritime Academy with only a master’s degree, until a Canadian colleague, Harold Alexander, persisted in encouraging him to get a PhD. He got degrees at Duke University (BA-History), Mississippi State University (BS-ME), Oregon State University (MS-ME), and the University of Texas at Austin (PhD-ME). Twelve years of higher education, but no complaints from someone who loved learning and intellectual challenges.
As an undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering, he loved theory. But after working in industry, he came to love application. He insisted on knowing how theory was applied. Without that, he placed little value just in theory itself. He went all over the map in Mechanical Engineering. At first, he was a mechanician. But at MMA, he learned the energy part of ME. Finally, he settled on Control Systems as his specialty, partly because it spans the gaps between the various areas of Mechanical Engineering. He was most grateful to be the black sheep in the family by not being a lawyer or a journalist, by becoming a scientist.
Frank met and married a wonderful woman, Wendy, and they stayed married until death did them part. Out of this union came about the best son that anyone can imagine, Benjamin (Luke) Ligon Owen.
It was with great sorrow that Frank was fated to leave them at an early age. He was profoundly sad that he was visiting so much grief on them by departing so early. He had much more planned, but fate intervened. Those two are, if nothing else, resilient. They will pick up their lives in his absence and go on to new and wonderful adventures, carrying close with them his memory.
Frank loved travel. He pored over atlases as a boy, looking at how countries fit together to form the world. One of his favorite magazines as a boy was National Geographic. His mother encouraged this interest. When the family of six children would go on family vacation, he became the navigation system in the car. His father also taught him the compass directions, quite a bit of astronomy, and how the phases of the moon work. This gave him a sense of orientation that was useful later in life.
This interest in geography and openness to the world was shared by his wife and passed on to his son. They had many, wonderful, enriching adventures together, traveling the globe and living and working in various places and in various positions as true visitors to that land and culture, not just on-looking tourists. In fact, he hated tourism and the distance that implies. Much of this turned on his and their learning of languages, in which each of them took a keen interest.
Often, especially after the international travel commenced in earnest in 2005, he marveled at where he was and what he was doing. After all, he grew up knowing only the hemmed-in world of segregated Mississippi and Alabama of the 1950s and ’60s. The family had been stuck in the South for 300+ years. He broke away from all of that and became a proud Californian, contributing to the betterment of that special society. He looked upon pulling up the deep roots of his Southern family and transplanting them in California as a major accomplishment in his life. Going from the narrow horizon of a racially segregated South to teaching at a university in Senegal was, indeed, a major leap.
Despite the tragedy of leading an abbreviated life, he was happy with how full and rich it was. At the end of it, he did not feel there was any place he had to go, anything he had to see that he hadn’t visited already. Okay, maybe there were a few more places to visit, to experience. But he had packed in so much, seen and done so many things, made friends so many places, his experiences leave little to rue as inadequate.
So don’t mourn his loss. Go out yourselves and become citizens of the world. As hard as it is, knock down those language barriers and meet the people behind them. Remember, until you learn the language, you are never more than a tourist!
Frank was predeceased by his sister, Judith; his mother, Mary Jane; and his father, Ben.
In addition to his wife and son, he leaves behind his siblings (their spouses), Lydia (John), Marsha (Rick), David (Renee), and Mary Jane; and niece, Carly.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation “In Memory of Frank Owen” to Pacheco Elementary School PTA, 261 Cuesta Dr., San Luis Obispo, CA 93405. Frank’s wish was to support the dedicated teachers at Pacheco Elementary School.