Owen Spencer McPherson was born October 13, 1926 in Waycross, Georgia. First settled circa 1820, Waycross was incorporated in 1873 as the crossing between several dirt roads and three railroads. Owen’s parents were Beulah Hill McPherson and Lloyd Jack McPherson. He had one brother, the late Lloyd McPherson Jr., eleven months older, and one sister, the late Eloise McPherson Baker, who was two years younger.
Owen graduated from Center High School in Waycross, where he was an athlete and active in debate and social clubs. He played football as a tackle and second base for the baseball team, and to stay in shape, he played on the basketball team. After high school, Owen joined the US Army, serving two years in World War II as a heavy weapon specialist, earning the rank of Buck Sergeant.
Returning to Waycross, he worked at Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in the machine shop, this was a “good job,” because he was not working outside in the sun. After nine months on the job, he matriculated to North Carolina A&T State College in Greensboro, North Carolina. Initially majoring in communications, he found himself fixing all radios on campus, and decided to switch to engineering because the communications instructor was collecting all the money from his hard work. In the spring of 1950, Owen entered Mu Psi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity; he was number 14 of 23 on his pledge line at NCA&T. Owen graduated in 1952 (B.S. Electrical Engineering) and in 1966, completed the USDA Graduate School in Public Administration.
Because jobs were easier to obtain in the north (than south), the college graduate went to Washington D.C. looking for employment. Luckily, his girlfriend, Dorothy Franklin, lived in Lynchburg, VA, and she and her parents helped him find a place to live through friends in Washington, D.C. Two weeks later, he secured employment at the Department of Navy, testing communications instruments and equipment on board submarines and service ships. After 30 years of service, Owen retired from the Department of the Navy, and began his second career at Westinghouse Electric Corporation as a Communications System Engineer. After nine years, he again retired, obtained his associate realtors license, and sold homes for ~five years.
A Life Member of Omega Si Phi (ΩΨФ) Fraternity, Owen had been a devoted husband and father and had been married to the wonderful Dorothy McPherson for 60 years prior to his passing. They have three sons, Owen Jr. (57), Carl (53), and Jason (48), and one grandson, Spencer Hill McPherson (15). In his life, Owen has received many awards, including:
Who’s Who among students in American Universities (1951-1952)
Professional Association of Naval Electronics Engineering and Sciences Award (1980)
Numerous ΩΨФ Awards: Ritualization (1988, 2003); Founders Stand-In (1990); Tau Pi Educator of the Year (1998 & 2002); Fifty-Year Service Award (2000).
Soon after his arrival in the District of Colombia, Owen joined the historic Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church, remaining active until his death, and faithfully serving over the years as a mentor, leader, philanthropist, Trustee, and Elder.
In his life, Owen Spencer McPherson, Sr. traveled through the Great Depression, World Wars I and II, Emmett Till, D-Day, the Civil Rights movement, and the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, President John Kennedy, and Senator Robert Kennedy. This biography can never fully express Owen’s life experiences, yet it provides a glimpse of how hard work, dedication, and determination to do what is right, can take anyone anywhere he or she wants to go.
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