The Rev. Robert S. Owens, Jr.
July 1, 1930 – June 21, 2020

From Jan Owens Thomas: As followers of my dad’s blog, I’m sure you would want to know that he passed away peacefully in his sleep on Father’s Day. We miss him terribly, of course, but are also confident that he has entered a new dimension of life.

I want to share a portion of a note from a longtime friend and ministry colleague — one of the hundreds of messages our family has been blessed to receive in the past week. This says it so well:

“If a man dies will he live again?” That was the verse Bob always quoted at the beginning of every funeral service he conducted. And he would always answer Job’s question with a resounding “YES! thanks to Jesus Christ who died that we might live again with Him.”  Bob is living this great hope he believed with our LORD today, surrounded by the many saints he sent off before he left us and joined them yesterday. What a sad day for you all, and yet what an appropriate day for him to leave you for his home with our Heavenly father. We join you remembering the words of Bob’s benediction at every memorial service, saying; “We transfer Bob’s membership from the church here on earth to the Church Triumphant. AMEN!”

Dad talked a lot about heaven during the past few years — and wrote about it, too, as in this post: The Greatest Tragedy is Dying without Having Ever Really Lived. Writing this blog was one of the great joys of his long ministry. I had the privilege of editing many of these posts, and I confess it was sometimes a challenge. Dad wrote as he preached — mostly in CAPS, with bold text, underlined phrases, many scripture references, and parenthetical comments (because there was always something important to add). Most recently, Dad was writing a series of posts about the armor of God; there are two unpublished posts which I will share in the coming days.

My family has set up a memorial website where we will be adding information about a future virtual celebration of life. We will also be posting photos, videos of Dad preaching and telling stories, and portions of the memoirs which he had been writing for the past few years. There is a page on the website where guests can leave a message or memory about Dad. If this blog has blessed you, we would be honored if you shared that in the comments below or at bobowensmemorial.com.