Raymond Owens

Raymond Carroll Owens, 82, went to be with his Lord and Savior on Sunday, December 30, 2018.

Raymond was born to John Bremond Owens and Lucille Marie Dahlin Owens in Mountain City, Texas on April 21, 1936, the Centennial of the Texian’s victory over Santa Anna at San Jacinto. Raymond grew up in Hays County and graduated from Buda High School. He served in the Texas National Guard and graduated from Texas Highway Patrol school in 1958. He served as a Highway Patrolman for several years in San Antonio and Central Texas and, at the time, was the youngest patrolman to head a field office when he started the field office in Giddings. More important to him, Raymond made many lifelong friends on the highway patrol and in law enforcement. Raymond moved his family to Austin in 1964 and spent the rest of his career in the insurance industry as an adjuster and a salesman.

Raymond loved country music, hunting, photography and road trips, but mostly he loved people. As he said, there are no strangers, just friends you haven’t met yet. He was incredibly gregarious and witty, and no one will ever forget how entertaining he was to talk to. He had a unique approach to life and expressing himself, and to say that he lived life on his own terms is an understatement. He was fiercely independent and strong-willed, which did not diminish these past few months through his short battle with illness. Raymond loved his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and extended family, and in particular enjoyed entertaining youngsters. To say the least, he was fun to be around.

Raymond is survived by his children, Randy Owens and his wife Pam, Kathy Jennings and her husband Charles, and Peggy Gillum and her husband Joe; mother, Lucille Owens; brother, Johnny Owens and his wife Billie; sister, Mary Sue Baudoin and her husband Gary; grandchildren, Aaron Gillum and his wife Lynn, Leah Parsons and her husband Matt, and Micah Gillum; Trey, Garrett and Sarah Jennings; and Samuel Owens and his wife Sarah, Joseph Owens and his wife Madelyn, and Rachel Poppe and her husband Kevin, and many great-grandchildren, nephews and nieces. Raymond leaves a great void in the lives of those who loved him, but his influence will last for generations. A private celebration of Raymond’s life for family and close friends is planned for April 20, 2019 at his children’s ranches at Nix, which he enjoyed so much.