Arvel Ellis Owens

Arvel Ellis Owens died on April 27, 2012 at FutureCare Cherrywood in Reisterstown, Maryland. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland on January 4, 1925 to the late Charles Owens and Lillie Thomas Owens. The eighth child of this union, Arvel lived nearly all of his life in northwest Baltimore. Arvel attended Baltimore City Public Schools including Carver Vocational Technical and Frederick Douglass High Schools. In the late 1970’s he studied for and obtained a General Education Diploma (GED). He was very proud of this accomplishment. During WWII, he served honorably in the United States Army. Following the war, he spent the majority of his working life at Aberdeen Proving Ground, working as a warehouseman and in preventative maintenance. Arvel won several awards for improving his organization and retired, after thirty years, in 1980. In 1947, Arvel married Pauline McDonald. From this union, two children, Paula and Roland were born. He was a devoted Father. For most of their 55 years of marriage, Pauline and Arvel lived in the 2100 Block of Westwood Avenue. The couple understood the importance of getting a good education and instilled a love of learning in their children. A deeply spiritual man, he was a long-time member of Ames Memorial United Methodist Church and in his later years, he was a member of Lochearn Presbyterian Church. Throughout his life, he loved music. In addition to playing the trombone and piano, he had a lovely bass voice which he used to sing the Lord’s praises on many choirs including those at Ames and Lochearn. One of his favorite songs was the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah. For several years, he sang at Baltimore’s Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in their “Musical Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” Whenever you came to visit Arvel in recent years, you could bet that CNN was playing in the background. He loved to watch the news and talk about current events. Additionally, he was a science fiction and history buff who also enjoyed fishing and traveling. Arvel was loved by his friends and family. He was always there to lend a helping hand or a sympathetic ear. He was close to his only grandchild, Allen Ashby who affectionately called him “Dough-Dough.” This name stuck with him and before long many others called him by that moniker. A devoted uncle, to his many nieces and nephews, he was also affectionately known as “Unkie.” Arvel leaves to cherish his memory two children, Dr. Roland Arvel Owens and Paula Owens Ashby; one grandson, Allen Ashby IV; one daughter-in-law, Lola Leal Owens; one future son-in-law, Theodore Roosevelt Laster, Jr.; one granddaughter-in-law, Eboné Brister Ashby; one sister, Romaine Owens Taylor; three nieces in Baltimore, Shirley Owens Montgomery, Janet Carol Owens Merritt and Jacqueline Shaw Johnson; a very special friend, Agnes Sears; and a host of other family and friends.

Tributes

Arvel Ellis Owens

January 4, 1925 - April 27, 2012