Wilbur Earl "Bill" Owens Obituary (1922

Wilbur Earl “Bill” Owens, 96, passed away peacefully at his home in Prosser surrounded by family on June 2, 2018. He was born on May 8th, 1922 to John and Mary Frances (Dean) Owens near Boone, Colorado. He loved Colorado; lived in many different places there and had a wide variety of jobs before his family migrated to the Yakima Valley in 1940. He graduated from Toppenish High School in 1941 and in his spare time roped wild mustangs on the Satus with his cousins. He joined the Army in 1942 during WWII and was trained in Radio Field Intelligence. He was stationed in North Africa, Sicily and Italy intercepting German Morse code to pass on to the Intelligence Staff to decipher. After the war, Bill settled in Prosser in 1945 where he met the love of his life, Tillie Lyczewski, and married her in 1950. They loved to dance and were members of the 30-70 Dance Club for many years. Bill was a farmer, sawmill worker, railroad builder, soldier, accountant, manager, and auto salesman. He worked for Ford Motor Co. for 30 years before retiring in his late 60’s and then drove Combine during wheat harvest in the summer for 10 years. He then found his favorite job of all, being a school bus driver. He drove for the Prosser School District for 17 years and retired at the age of 86! Bill served as a Prosser City Councilman and Chairman of the Red Cross drive and belonged to the Knights of Columbus at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Lion’s Club (30 years), American Legion (60 years) and VFW (lifetime). He loved the outdoors, taking his family camping and fishing, playing cards and joining his coffee buddies six mornings a week! He was also an avid sports fan and passed his love of sports on to his children. He developed a love of running in his 60’s and completed 30 Bloomsday 12Ks; his last one on his 90th birthday with his kids, grandkids and great-grandkids. Bill was preceded in death by his lovely wife Tillie, brother Tom Owens and sister Muriel Sayre He is survived by his son, Jeff Owens (Cheryl), daughters Deb Koon (John) and Kathleen Switzer (Jim), sisters Virgie Silvers and Nancy Carroll (Fred) and brother Ron Owens (Sumi), grandchildren Andrea Sampson (Garret), Roslyn Owens, Jared Koon, Therese Maness and Karen Maness, great-grandchildren Brady, Layton, Marcus and Rebekah Sampson, Flynn and Jude Cloyes, numerous nieces and nephews and many, many friends. Bill was a devoted and loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He lived his life with a positive attitude and hoped that those he touched would try to do the same. We will be forever grateful for the excellent, compassionate care Dad received at Prosser Memorial Hospital and through Heartlinks Hospice. A Celebration of Life will be held at Brewminatti (713 Sixth Street, Prosser) on June 30th from 2:00pm to 5:00pm with Military Honors commencing at 2:15 pm, please join us. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Prosser Food Bank or the charity of your choice. You may leave a message for the family at www.Prosserfuneralhome.com