Ralph Carl Owens

Ralph was born in October 1930 in Princeton, West Virginia to Arthur and Mary “Ethel” Owens who have preceded him in death. He was the middle child of 15 siblings who preceded him in death.

Ralph was a faith filled man and the faith leader for his family. Ralph had the kind of heart that would see a need and fulfill that need. The kind of man that family members trusted with their children when they could not take care of them. The kind of man who did not say “no" to someone in need.

Ralph was not afraid of hard work. He worked for the coal mines as teen. He then joined the Army and was part of an esteemed drill team. After the Army, he went back to the coal mines. In order to preserve his health, he moved his family to Florida where he worked as a long haul truck driver and bought his own truck. He then worked as a “Crane Rigger” at Westinghouse lifting and moving 70 foot long, 800 ton commercial power generators. After the Tampa Westinghouse plant closed, he joined a team of Nuclear Power Plant maintenance crews that repaired the power plants during planned outages all over the state of Florida.

Ralph was at home in the mountains or at the seashore. He loved nature and could identify a tree by its bark or leaves. He fed every animal he came across and brought many stray animals home. The birds, deer, possums, raccoons, squirrels and chipmunks will miss him greatly in Beech Mountain and Brooksville. Ralph was an avid fisherman and made many friends while fishing.

Ralph loved to learn and was an avid reader. He understood the elements and was self taught in metal smelting and molding, producing everything from knives to rings.

Ralph is survived by his wife, Charlotte A. Owens; children, Ralph Owens Jr., Debra D. Curtiss and her husband, Tim; step-children: Emma Balha; Raymond Wren, Jr.; Susan Wren; Christopher Odum and his wife, Tracy; Keith Sherman and his wife, Colleen; Ken Sherman and his wife, Lisa; and Karen Sherman. Grandchildren: Nikki Guschausky and husband, Tom; Jessica Young and husband, Kurt; William Johnston, Jr.; Eric Johnston and his wife, Summer; Rachael Wren; Tyler Rosencrans; Charlotte Pringle and her husband, Jeff; Shawn Stokes and his wife, Ashley; Dustin Odum; Kyler Odum and his wife, Johnna;and, Brady Odum. Great-grandchildren: Hunter Guschausky; Jacob Guschausky; Sean Manriquez; Holly Johnston; Chloe Johnston; Odinn Johnston; Tucker Simmons; Conner Sanmartin; Cooper Stokes; Abigail Stokes; Braylen Odum; Kolton Odum; Hunter Odum; Kenlee Odum; Kaitlyn Kilpatrick; Kelsey Kilpatrick; Joshua Kilpatrick; and Ken Sherman, Jr.

A funeral service for Ralph will be held, Saturday, July 2, 2022 at 11 a.m. at Croom-A-Coochee Baptist Church, 10926 South US 301, Webster, Florida. Interment will be in Garden of Memories Cemetery, Tampa, Florida.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Croom-A-Coochee Baptist Church, 10926 South US 301, Webster, FL 33597 in Ralph's memory.