Jeanne B Owens

Mrs. Jeanne B. Owens (née Ella Jeanne Bilbrey) went on ahead, absent from the body and present with the Lord, early in the morning of July 16, 2021, a life full of days at 93 years and 9 months. Mrs. Owens had been at the forefront of various parts of Chattanooga life, society, arts, religion, fashion, entertainment, and business from the time she graduated from Central High School till she retired from public life in the summer of 2012.

Jeanne was born October 15, 1927, to the late Gaither T and Lillie Mae Caldwell Bilbrey. She was the youngest of seven siblings, with sisters Gladys, Jeanelle, and Jewell, and brothers Hollis, Benton, and Herbert, all of whom predeceased her. The family lived for many years on St. Elmo Avenue until moving to Tunnel Boulevard in the 1940s. She became a Christian at the St. Elmo Church of Christ, and was later a member of the Central Church of Christ where she remained until 2019. In January of that year, she claimed the Manchester Park Church of Christ (a congregation formerly known as “Rivermont,” which she and her husband helped plant in the late 1950s) as her final earthly church home. She worked tirelessly for the Lord, prayed to him fervently and often, and did her best to make sure she did not let a day go by that she did not spend in his word, even after suffering the loss of sight in both eyes.

After high school, Jeanne began working as a secretary for a few select executives at downtown Chattanooga businesses. She loved to tell wholesome and humorous stories about some of her bosses, and often used the Cumberland Portland Cement phrase, “Thank you, Marquette.” While employed as a secretary, she also became a member of the National Secretaries Association and was once asked to model in their annual fashion show. She tried it, liked it, and decided to go to modeling school. From there, she was a runway model for many years, also appearing on television, both locally and in the national “Dupont’s Cavalcade of Fashion” in New York. Returning to Chattanooga, she accepted a modeling position at Miller Brothers Company, where she remained until its closing. But she did not simply remain a model there—she became Fashion, Special Events, Public Relations, and Youth Activities Director, wearing all four hats at once throughout the early 1970s. When the store became “Miller’s” in 1973, she continued in those positions throughout the company’s entire region (stretching from Tri-Cities to Rome) while remaining the company’s only corporate executive based in Chattanooga. During the same period, she taught business etiquette at Edmondson Business College on Cherry Street.

Jeanne’s artistic talents initially centered around singing (for which she was amply trained, growing up in the Church of Christ) and acting (beginning at Central High). She performed at the Little Theatre (now the Chattanooga Theatre Centre) while it was still located downtown, and first saw her husband-to-be when he was in a play there. She set her cap for him, and shortly thereafter found the chance to get to know him when he began singing with the Chattanooga Civic Chorus (with which she also sang, as well as with the Chattanooga Philharmonic Chorus). Never one to shy away from flirting, Leonard Hughes Owens (whom everyone knew as Johnny) asked if she needed a ride home, which led to nine years of (non-exclusive) dating, three months of engagement, and a wedding at the Central church building on June 15, 1956. Lou Gregg of Chattanooga Florist told her that the city Fire Marshal would not allow her to place lighted candles on the ends of the pews, to which Jeanne replied, “I didn’t invite the Fire Marshal to my wedding.” The candles burned brightly throughout the ceremony.

When Jeanne became pregnant, she told her husband she would like to name the baby after him, but that she would not name a child “Leonard Hughes Owens.” He had his familiar monicker “Johnny” legally added to his name, and ten months to the day after the wedding, Jeanne gave birth to her only child, Leonard Hughes Johnny Owens, Jr. Johnny, Jr. later became the “mascot” of the Miller’s Teen Board, which was the Youth Activities outreach arm of Miller Brothers and later Miller’s. Each year the members of the Teen Board (whom she loved dearly, and who knew her as “Mama Jeanne”) would present the “Back-To-School Show,” usually at the Tivoli Theatre. Jeanne and her husband Johnny wrote, produced, and directed these shows, which contained a mixture of pre-recorded music, live-action dialogue, and the latest fashion styles for teens presented during dance numbers and skits.

Jeanne also served with the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce, Allied Arts (now ArtsBuild), and other various downtown committees, helping to start both ongoing and defunct celebrations in Chattanooga such as Nightfall, Octoberfest, and Christmas on the River. After leaving Miller’s at the time of its sale, she became Personal Shopper for Loveman’s Hamilton Place location. When Loveman’s was purchased first by Proffitt’s and then by Belk, she transferred to their Downtown store and then to their Northgate location as Elizabeth Arden consultant, remaining until finally retiring at age 85.

After her husband died in 1985, Jeanne renewed acquaintances with an old friend who had been a member of her wedding party, Robert C. (Bob) Day, and the two were a couple until Bob’s passing in November of last year. Jeanne is survived by her son Johnny, Jr., nieces Dorris McBride, Phyllis Jean Lipscomb, Iris Hurley, and Kelly Bilbrey, nephews Gaither L. [Shirley] Bilbrey, Ken Bilbrey, and Larry Waite, plus many great-nephews and grandnieces and her “adopted daughter” Mary Lynn Wilson.

The family will receive visitors at the North Chapel of the Chattanooga Funeral Home, 5401 Highway 153, Monday from 1-7 P. M. Jeanne’s funeral service will be held Tuesday at 11 A. M. at the North Chapel, with her son presiding. Interment will follow immediately at Hamilton Memorial Gardens, 5351 Highway 153. Flowers are always lovely, but if you would like to make a truly meaningful gift in Jeanne’s memory, she would ask that you help feed souls and bodies through the work of Manchester Park Church of Christ or the Chattanooga Community Kitchen.