Barbara Lee Wearden Owens

For Christians, every Sunday is a celebration of Easter because it represents the day Jesus conquered death. On Tuesday morning, April 4th, 2023, Barbara Lee Wearden Owens joined the Easter Parade at eighty-seven years old. Daughter of Leo Wearden and Theodore Cluiss Wearden of Corpus Christi, Texas, she was born on August 18, 1935. Here she sang in choirs and worked in the offices of Alice and Corpus Christi high schools. Some of Mom’s favorite life moments were filling up a pew on Sunday morning with children and grandchildren. She loved singing with her family and was a member of Green Acres Baptist Church, Tyler, Texas. She had her first date with dad, Robert Lee Owens Sr., at the age of sixteen, at a Halloween sock hop. Four years later, Robert and Barbara started their life together in San Antonio and were married at the age of twenty. Barbara was a devoted “Mom” and “Mother” to her three children. Her son, Robert Lee Owens Jr., his wife Kandi Dickson Owens, from Tyler, and granddaughter from Dallas, Kristn Owens Stuart, with husband, Tyson Stuart. She and dad loved being a part of Traditions restaurant, and many family gatherings were held there. Many thanks to the staff who were lovingly devoted to serving them and helping them celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. Also from Tyler is her daughter, Rosaline Owens Williams, and her late husband Jeff Williams, grandson, Jeremy Williams and granddaughter, Kyndl Williams Tompkins with her husband, Chase Tompkins, her daughter, Rebecca Owens Hill, who traveled the miles from Sugar Land to spend time with parents and family and loved all the Sunday night phone conversations, her granddaughter, Beverly Hill Blondell, and husband Brian Blondell of Houston along with grandson, Robert Hill, of Austin. Our mother loved gardening and we spent hours together in the yard at Corpus Christi filled with roses, lilies, and even a backyard vegetable garden. There were fruit trees, from which Barbara and her mother would make wonderful fig, peach, and grape preserves. In Bay City for sixteen years, there was a rolling backyard filled with pecan trees that went down to a creek. Fondly called “Nana” by her grandchildren, she would gather them here to look for pecans or hunt Easter eggs. Always with a beloved pet running nearby. In Tyler for twenty-seven years, Mom and Dad always had a flower garden, and kept a birdfeeder to enjoy the birds, squirrels, and other animals that came across the backyard. Barbara was an expert seamstress. She made beautiful clothes for herself, daughters, granddaughters, and a couple of nice, tailored sports jackets for dad. Even after giving up sewing, she always dressed beautifully with matching purses, shoes, and jewelry. But most of all, Barbara enjoyed being known as a businesswoman. She worked tirelessly helping dad with his paper route in San Antonio, as they started their marriage together. She joined Robert in managing the Corpus Christi branch of Groce Wearden Co.; a food service company supplying restaurants and grocery stores throughout South Texas, from the valley to San Antonio. In 1976, they were transferred to manage the branch office in Bay City, Texas. In addition, Barbara worked with vocational students from the high school. Robert and Barbara would make business trips to Las Vegas for national conventions, which mom always enjoyed. When they were forty-five, the branch office was closed, and they started careers in real estate. Mom took courses with Dad, and they obtained their broker ’s licenses to open their own office. At age sixty, Robert and Barbara moved to Tyler where they continued real estate until very recently. Our greatest inheritance from our much-loved wife, mother, and grandmother, was that she took us to church and introduced us to Jesus Christ. She enjoyed helping to teach Sunday School, and we were always involved with Vacation Bible School every summer. One of her favorite bible verses was Romans 8:28 “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.” Easter is a promise of Life, after this life. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ, death is swallowed up. Because He lives, Barbara now lives in victory with Him in heaven, now face-to-face with Jesus, her parents, and her family that have gone on before her. Thank you for all prayers, helping caregivers, and blessings from all.

Barbara Lee Wearden Owens

August 18, 1935 - April 4, 2023