Tag: James Owens

A memorial celebration for James Vardiman Owens will be held at Plymouth Congregational Church at 11:00 on April 15th. Jim died on March 7th at the Pioneer Ridge Assisted Living facility. He was 100 years old.

Jim Owens was born on November 4, 1915 to Sam and Effie Owens in Richland, a town 15 miles southwest of Lawrence that now lies beneath Clinton Lake. He spent most of his youth in Salina.

Jim received an undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas in 1937 and a master’s degree in business from the University of Iowa in 1939. While attending KU, James Naismith was his instructor for a health class, during Dr. Naismith’s final year of teaching.

It was also at KU that he met Laura Humphrey of Eskridge, and they were married in 1940 in Miami, Florida, where Jim worked for Pan American Airways. He continued his brief career with Pan Am in New York City, before moving to Lawrence in 1945, where he and Laura purchased and operated a florist business at 9th and Massachusetts and a greenhouse at 15th and New York. They eventually relocated Owens’ Flower Shop to its present location at 9th and Indiana. The couple sold the business in 1974. Laura Owens died in 2004, after 63 years of marriage.

During a very busy life, Jim served on numerous boards and commissions, and remains the only person to have served as mayor of Lawrence (1964-1965), president of the board of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce (1966-1967) and president of the Lawrence Board of Education (1968-1969). He also served on the Lawrence Recreation Commission (1960-1964) and on the Lawrence Human Relations Commission during some turbulent times in the mid to late 1960s. Jim was a member of the Board of Directors of First National Bank of Lawrence for 25 years, Deacon and Moderator at Plymouth Congregational Church, a Lawrence Sesquicentennial Committee member, fundraiser for the Lawrence Arts Center and was a long-time member of the Lawrence Rotary Club.

Jim received many honors during his lifetime, including the Kiwanis Club’s Certificate of Recognition, Sertoma’s Service to Mankind award, Baker University’s Service Award and the Citizen of the Years award from the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce. He was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Lawrence Rotary Club, and was inducted into the Lawrence Business Hall of Fame.

Jim loved to travel, and was fortunate to have been able to visit many parts of this country, and the world. He was a good listener, truly enjoying conversations with everyone he met. He embraced change, including technological change, and was always eager to learn something new. Jim Owens enjoyed life, and will be missed by many.

Jim is survived by two children: Martin (Kay) Owens of Lee’s Summit, Missouri and Laura (Bob) Schulte of Kansas City, Missouri. He is also survived by five grandchildren: Kelvin (Andrea) Owens of Springfield, Illinois; Angie (Brett) Gruetzmacher of Brookfield, Wisconsin; Abigail (Bryce) Crady of Westwood Hills, Kansas; Andrew (Meghan) Schulte of Washington, D.C.; Evan (Akiko) Schulte of Komatsu, Japan and seven great-grandchildren. Jim was preceded in death by his daughter, Justine.

The family wishes to express its true appreciation to the management and staff of Pioneer Ridge Assisted Living for the support and kindness they showed to Jim.

Memorial contributions may be made in Jim’s name to the Lawrence Humane Society and the Alzheimer’s Association sent in care of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home.

Memorial services for James V. ‘Jim’ Owens, 100, Lawrence, will be announced in April by Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home & Crematory.

Jim Owens, founder of Owens Flower Shop in downtown Lawrence, is said to be the only person who ever served in all of three key positions: Lawrence’s mayor, president of the Lawrence school board and the chairman of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce.

“Not only did he love this city, but he dedicated his life to serving it,” said Joe Flannery, president of Weaver’s department store, who grew up knowing the Owens family. “He was a generous, loving soul who always wanted whatever was best for Lawrence. He contributed whatever he could to make it a better place.”

Owens died Monday at Pioneer Ridge Assisted Living. He was 100.

Owens, whom Flannery called one of the “true gentlemen” of Lawrence, was born in 1915 in Richland, a town in southeastern Shawnee County. He was in Salina during the Great Depression and landed in Lawrence for good in 1946, after returning from military service.

That year, he and his wife, Laura, purchased the flower shop, then named Ward’s Flowers. He bought it on somewhat of a whim for $50,000, with the previous owner predicting he wouldn’t last in the business two months.

Owens and his wife operated the shop for 35 years. They sold it in 1974, and it remains in business today, still bearing the “Owens Flower Shop” name.

The 2011 Lawrence Business Hall of Fame inducted Owens, along with Bob Billings, Shirley Martin-Smith and Gene Meyer.

In a speech Owens gave upon receiving an induction into the Lawrence Business Hall of Fame in 2011, he told one of his favorite stories from being a florist: traveling to Washington, D.C. during the Gerald Ford administration to help decorate the White House with flowers.

Years after purchasing the flower shop, Owens decided he could contribute something else to the city.

Owens ran for the City Commission and served as the mayor of Lawrence in 1964 and 1965. Around that time, he also took up the post of chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, and he was elected as school board president. In a 2011 interview with the Journal-World, Owens said he “just enjoyed it all.”

Kathy and Steven Bruner were Owens’ neighbors on Raintree Place for more than 30 years. The neighborhood was tight-knit, Kathy Bruner said, and Owens was “the best conversationalist.”

“He was, without a doubt, one of the neatest men I’ve ever known,” she said.

Owens was commonly known in Lawrence as a florist and a dedicated public servant, but he described himself, above all else, as an optimist.

“I’m an optimist,” he said in a 2013 interview. “And that has served me pretty well in life.”

Laura Owens died in 2004 at age 89. The couple had three children, Laura, Martin and Justine.