Catherine Lea Owen , January 11, 1917 — June 24, 2018

Annie Catherine Lea Owen, 101, passed away, June 24, 2018, at The Blake in Flowood, MS. Visitation will be held from 9AM to 11AM, Tuesday, June 26, 2018, at Ott & Lee Funeral Home in Brandon, MS. The public is invited to a same day graveside service at the Parkway Cemetery in Kosciusko, MS at 2:30 PM.

The service will be officiated by Dr. Scott Wright. Catherine Lea Owen was born January 11, 1917, in Lake Mississippi. She was raised through the Great Depression as a member of a “sawmill family”.

So, by the time Catherine finished high school in Noxapater, MS, she had attended schools in at least 5 different locations in Florida and Mississippi. Post high school, Catherine graduated from Matty Hersee Nursing School as an RN. She became one of the original nurses at the newly built hospital in Kosciusko, MS, the Montfort Jones.

Catherine was known as an outstanding, caring nurse who served her profession well as a hospital floor nurse and head nurse for more than 40 years. If you knew Catherine, you know she ran a ‘tight ship”, and everything she did was done with hands of love and the desire to serve others. During this time, she met and fell in love with Ralph Owen, and joined him in marriage for 59 wonderful years.

Ralph passed away in 1998, and Catherine moved to the Brandon/Flowood area in 1999 to be closer to her family. She lived life well with a steadfast faith in God, complete devotion to her family, and dedication to her profession. She will be remembered as a person of kindness, wisdom, generosity, and grace; a person who found peace and contentment in any circumstance.

Those of us who knew her best honor her as a loving, nurturing wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. Catherine was preceded in death by her mother and father, William O’Neal Lea and Virginia Seale Lea; her brother, William O’Neal Lea, Jr. (Jean); her husband, John Ralph Owen; and grandson, Cameron Hunter Owen. She is survived by her 3 sons: James Ralph Owen (Teresa), Robert Lea Owen (Connie), and Keith Andrew Owen (Pam).

She is also survived by: 10 grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren, and a very dear group of nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or Salvation Army.

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