1946 – 2021
It is with love that we mourn the loss of Betty Owen who died on November 18 2021, In Knoxville, where she had moved in 2015 to be closer to family.
Betty was born in Memphis on July 7, 1946, and lived in many places in her youth, including Germany and Japan, as her father was career Navy. She moved back to Collierville in her early teens and graduated from Collierville High School in 1964 as a National Merit Scholar. The same year she was crowned “Miss Collierville”. She later attended and graduated from Memphis State University. After briefly teaching in elementary school, she became a CPA. She worked as a CPA in Memphis, Collierville, and finally in Knoxville.
She was a dedicated and prolific volunteer for numerous organizations. For many years she provided accounting assistance to the St Jude’s FedEx Classic for their annual golf tournament. She also volunteered at the Public Library in Collierville, the Collierville Literacy Council as a tutor, Collierville’s Fair on the Square, and the Century Club.
She is preceded in death by her parents, James Burnett Lewis and Elizabeth Carruthers Lewis. She leaves her two sisters, Barbara Lewis Porter (John Porter); Joy Lewis (Fred Annand); niece Elizabeth Porter (Eric Moses); great niece Callista Anne Moses; her aunt Joan Carruthers Mooney (Raymond Mooney), numerous cousins, former classmates, and many friends to mourn her passing.
A memorial service is being planned for the spring of 2022 in Collierville. Betty was particularly fond of animals and never met a stray cat or dog she wouldn’t take in. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, any memorial contributions be made to an animal shelter of your choice. Online condolences may be made at rosefuneraltn.com.
