Michael Dale Owens (1947-2021) Obituary and Memorial

Life story

Michael Dale Owens was born in Albany, Kentucky on August 18, 1947, to Mary Keeton Huff Owens and Willie Wendell Owens. He grew up in the Beaty/Koger Creek community and remained there all his life. He was an only child. While I cannot attest to his attributes as a child, I can tell you the things from childhood that remained in his adult life. He was dedicated to his family. Not perfect but constant. Always steadfast in his expectations for a good life. He was very loyal to his mother and father and suffered from losing them both in his 30s.

He attended college at Campbellsville University after graduating from high school at the age of 16 (he skipped grades in elementary). He received an education degree in history and did return to college to increase his rank. But his time in education was short lived. After 8 years, he walked away from his job as an educator, and never looked back. He often remarked that he wished he had stayed in education for the retirement just to make me laugh (an educator myself). I'd laugh and make fun of him until he laughed at how silly that was. He had an extremely full life after leaving education, and he was well aware of how much fun he had been blessed with in that decision.

In 1974, he married Beverly Sue Guffey, and they had three children: Jennifer Day, Mikki Dale, and Jessica Suzanne. Mom swears that by the 3rd one that he didn't want a boy. He loved us; we were the Owens Girls, and I don't think he wanted it any other way (even though it seems like an injustice for a man with a junkyard to have no sons). But when you have three girls, you have three Daddy's Girls, and no mama's boys ;) And that we were. He took great care to make sure that we always knew we were special.

He took life very seriously, but made friends easily. He was passionate about cars and work, and that drew a crowd. There were always people hanging around at the garage, and it created an energetic atmosphere that was always fun to be around. He did other things as well: farming (cattle and hay), rental properties, once started a radio station, had a Ford dealership with Terry White in Albany, ran a Stihl and Polaris dealership, oil wells, and even returned to one year of education as a middle school principal (it didn't take him long to remember his why). He did not take the time to appreciate the beautiful unpredictability that his life held for him every day. Every single day held a new challenge, a new discovery, and often a new friendship.

I don't remember any words that he said repeatedly to leave a quote, but here are a few of his core beliefs: Get up early, work hard, be classy and don't tell everything you know, don't talk about money or politics, set high standards for yourself and the people in your life, and don't settle; life is full of opportunity. You don't have to apply those things to work to make them work. And those beliefs have made our lives easier time and time again.

Dad's idea of fun was to work. But he never worked on Sunday, and he and Mom took great care to raise their children in church and to respect the Lord.

He is dearly missed. Every single day. He was taken too soon, and without warning, and that leaves a lot of regret for me as a daughter. I know lots of people say that people in their old age will always say that they wished they had worked less and did more of whatever....I'm not sure Dad would have said that (the man sincerely loved to work). But what I can tell you, is that I wish I had worked alongside him more. I wish I had taken more videos, and recorded more stories. I wish I had stayed longer. -Mikki

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