Patricia "Pat" Smith Owen

Patricia Smith Owen, 77, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and sister, went home to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on August 9, 2011 after a long and courageous battle with multiple system atrophy. Mrs. Owen was born in Smiths Chapel (Wayne County), N.C., to George W. and Blanche Smith. She spent most of her childhood in Fayetteville and her youth in Greenville, N.C., where she earned a B.A. in business at East Carolina College. While a high school teacher she married the Rev. J. Malloy Owen, III, and together they served churches in Greenville, Clayton, and Raleigh, and the United Methodist districts of New Bern and Goldsboro – in the latter two with Mrs. Owen as a supremely capable secretary.

Following the death of her husband in 1994 she lived in Charlotte and then in Charlottesville. A lady of rare beauty and grace, with a wry wit and inexhaustible kindness, she ministered by teaching and example to countless children and adults wherever she went. She delighted in serving her Lord and made life sweeter for all who knew her.

She is survived by her daughter, Patricia Owen Palardy (Mark) of Charlotte, and sons, John Malloy Owen, IV (Trish) of Charlottesville, Virginia, and James Judd Owen (Marion) of Decatur, Georgia; her sisters Martha Cox of Greenville and Emily Rouse (Edward) of Winterville, N.C.; brother Nelson Smith (Joanne) of Columbia, N.C.; and grandchildren Annesley, Elizabeth, John Mark, and Christian Palardy; Malloy, Frances, and Alice Owen; and Dorothy and Isaac Owen.

A funeral service will be held in Owen Hall at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, 4801 Six Forks Rd in Raleigh, at 12:00 noon on Monday, August 15. At 11:00 a.m., immediately prior to the funeral, the family will greet friends in Owen Hall. Burial will be at 3:30 p.m. at Cross Creek Cemetery in Fayetteville.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Mrs. Owen’s name to Wycliffe Bible Translators, http://www.wycliffe.org/, or to the Multiple System Atrophy Support Group, http://www.shy-drager.org/donate.

Funeral arrangements by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, 300 Saint Mary’s St., Raleigh, NC.