Ellen Owens

Ellen Frances Nunnally Owens, 90, of Texas City, Texas, passed into a new life early on the morning of December 22, 2016.

Memorial services will be held 2:00 p.m. Thursday, December 29, 2016, at First United Methodist Church in Texas City with a reception to follow at the church.

Mrs. Owens was born August 6, 1926, in Texarkana, Arkansas. She was the only child of Hazel and Hilliard Nunnally. Raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, she graduated from Byrd High School and then attended LSU in Baton Rouge, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in history in 1947. On January 27, 1948, she married Marvin Lee Owens, Jr., also of Shreveport. After graduate school, Lee and Ellen settled in Texas City, Texas, where she lived for the next 61 years, raising their four daughters. After her children all began school, she continued her own education, pursuing a teaching certificate in history. She taught Social Studies at Texas City High School for 16 years and helped mold the lives of many of Texas City's young people. Ellen was a life-long Methodist and a proud member of First United Methodist Church of Texas City for more than six decades.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Lee in 1996.

Survivors include her four daughters, Kitty Potter and husband Gary, Betty Geary and husband Bob, Laura Neff and husband Jerry, and Susan Stallings; her grandchildren, Josh Shirley and wife Johanna Chambers, Preston Potter, Stacie Wilkerson and husband Robert, Matthew Neff and wife Alise, Patrick Neff, Andrew Neff, Katie Sanford and husband Matthew, Alex Stallings, Emily Stallings and fiance' Zac Steward; nine great grandchildren; and many dear friends, including her long-time friend and companion Rusty Thomasson.

Ellen took great pride in her family, often commenting that the only thing she ever really wanted to be was a mother. In addition to being a devoted and loving wife and mother, however, she was also an accomplished, independent woman in many ways. She valued education and was a life-long learner, belonging to book clubs and study clubs well into her later years. She was an independent thinker who continued to read about and study current events and never missed the opportunity to exercise her right to vote, something she considered both a great privilege and great responsibility. She believed in and modeled a life of service, always believing that she was blessed to be a blessing.

Ellen will be missed by many but her legacy will live on in those she loved. It can truly be said that her life was a life well lived.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any memorials be sent to Texas Annual Conference, Attn: Louisiana Flood Victims, 5215 Main, Houston, TX 77002, or to a charity of your choice.

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