Gerald F. “Jerry” Owens, age 88, went to be with the Lord on January 5, 2026. He was born October 28, 1937 in Golden, MS to William E. (Bill) Owens and Helen Hargett Owens.
Jerry graduated from Belmont High School in 1956, where he was an outstanding basketball player. He served in the Army and worked for the FBI in Washington, D.C. where he met and married Barbara Fowler Owens. They moved to Memphis, TN in 1963 where Jerry started working at Firestone Tire and Rubber and subsequently moved in 1968 to Hernando, MS. After the Firestone plant was closed in 1983, he worked as an over the road trucker, including as a team with Barbara until her death in 1992. After Barbara passed, he continued driving for several years and then he worked for one of the concessionaires at the Grand Canyon. He did some traveling in the U.S. with different family members and in Europe and the Mediterranean with some friends from the Grand Canyon, before returning to Golden to help care for his sister, Mary Owens Cain and where he lived until his passing. He attended Old Union Baptist Church.
Jerry was preceded in death by his parents, William E. (Bill) Owens and Helen Hargett Owens; his wife, Barbara Fowler Owens, his brothers, Harold Edwin Owens and William Keith Owens and his sister, Mary Owens Cain. He is survived by his children, Melissa Owens, Greg Owens and Sandra Tribble; his grandchildren, Samantha Owens, Drew Howell and Michael Tribble and by Boots, the smartest cat in the world.
Graveside services and burial will be at Lindsey Cemetery, Dennis, MS on Wednesday, January 7, at 2 p.m. at Bro. Jerry Ginn officiating. Deaton Funeral Home, Belmont, MS will be in charge of arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, donations should be made to American Cancer Society.
