Mary Watkins Owen

REIDSVILLE - Mary Ruth Watkins Owen 1711 Ashley Loop Rd. Reidsville, NC passed away on April 26, 2009 at the age of 96. Graveside services will be at 11:00 Wednesday morning at Roselawn Memorial Gardens with Reverend Grover Holder officiating. Mary was born on October 1, 1912 in Oakvale, West Virginia to George Washington Watkins and Maggie Jones Watkins and lived most of her life in Rockingham County. In 1930, Mary graduated from Stoneville High School from a class of 12 and lived to be the last surviving classmate. Following graduation, Mary worked in various textile mills and silk mills in Martinsville, Virginia, Fieldcrest Mills, Karastan, and Carolina Woolen Mills. In 1934, she married Ezra Levi Owen and they spent the next 20 years working in textile mills and air plane factories. With the onset of World War II, she went to work as a timekeeper at Fairchild Aircraft in Burlington. They later moved to Baltimore, Maryland and Marietta, Georgia, where she worked for Eastern Aircraft and Belair Aircraft, respectively. She spent the last twenty years prior to retirement alongside her husband, working on their tobacco farm, which was a lot of hard work, but yielded a lot of happiness and fond memories for the two of them. In 1940, Mary joined Mount Hermon Baptist Church and held many positions during her membership, including Sunday school teacher and WMU leader. Mary was a prayer warrior who believed in hard work and had a strong compassion for serving the Lord. Mary came along during a time when it was difficult to further one's formal education past high school, but nevertheless realized the value of education. As such, she was a repeated and anonymous contributor to the RCC Foundation. She was not one to seek attention or recognition, but believed in helping others who tried to help themselves and felt that RCC was both a blessing and an invaluable resource to the county. Mary never gave old age a thought; "she said she knew there was a time to be born and also a time to die". Being blessed with both longevity and an intelligent mind up until the last few months before her death allowed her to share countless stories, memories, and personal experiences of how the world had changed throughout her lifetime. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Ezra, of 62 years, and her son and daughter-in-law, William Ronald & Dorothy Huskey Owen. She is survived by her daughter Deborah Owen Carroll and husband William of Reidsville; four grandchildren Ronya O. Streckfuss and husband Andrew of Spring, Texas, Gregory H. Owen of Tennessee, Kevin T. Carroll and wife Kelley of Pfafftown, NC and Brent O. Carroll and wife Mary of Kernersville, NC; four great-grandchildren Caroline D. Streckfuss and Elizabeth A. Streckfuss both of Spring, Texas, Calen J. Owen of Washington ST. and Owen T. Carroll of Kernersville; two sisters: Nancy A. Watkins of Stoneville and Virginia W. Fain of Reidsville; two brothers: Leonard E. Watkins of Reidsville and George A. Watkins and wife Pattie of Eden, and a very special thank you to a dear friend and care giver, Mary Woodall. The family will receive family and friends on Tuesday, April 28th, from 6PM -8PM at Wilkerson Funeral Home and all other times at her residence. Memorial contributions may be made to either Mount Hermon Baptist Church, 1551 Ashley Loop, Reidsville, or to the Hospice of Rockingham County, Wentworth, NC. Wilkerson Funeral Home is assisting the Owen family with arrangements.