Betty Jean Owens

Betty was born on March 14, 1931 in Pitts, Arkansas to Milus and Edna Russell. Having moved with her family to Michigan, there she met and fell in love with Dusty Owens, and the two wed in 1949.

Betty worked alongside her husband for four decades in their marketing career, building a successful Amway business, while raising their four children: Phillip, Paula, Rachel, and Loren. She loved crocheting, gardening, playing dominoes, baking—each year, for decades, she crafted elaborate birthday cakes of cartoon characters and creatures for each generation of her young ones.

Behind every great man one finds, standing proverbially, a great woman. Betty: Sweetheart, Mom, Grandma, Gigi. You stood as the family pillar. You were our foundation, our strength, our heart, our love.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents, Milus K. and Edna P. Russell; her beloved husband Robert J. (Dusty) Owens; her son Phillip; and her sisters June Hunter and Yvonne Campbell. She is survived by her sisters Sharon Robbins and Joyce Moore, as well as many nieces and nephews; her son, Loren Owens (Michele Martin); daughters, Paula Nichols (Tony) and Rachel Caruso (Mike); five grandchildren, Ryan & Kara Mauldin, Jorel Juncal, Tristan & Bella DeLuna, and great-grandson, Amari Gonzalez.