KENT CHRISTOPHER OWEN

Kent Owen, 77, died Dec. 5, four months after suffering a traumatic brain injury in a fall.
He was the son of Herbert T. and Mary Ellen (Yarling) Owen. Proud of his sevengeneration Hoosier heritage, he was born Jan. 30, 1938. His first Indiana home was
Spencer. He then lived in Rochester, Shelbyville, and Huntington. He has lived in
Bloomington since 1968.
He attended Huntington High School, Culver Naval Summer School, Amherst College,
and Indiana University. At IU, where he earned two degrees, he was president of the
Interfraternity Council, chairman of the Organized Party, and a member of the GE
College Bowl team that appeared on national television.
Although in the present day he called himself an agnostic Republican, he once was on
the Republican primary ballot for state senate and for mayor of Bloomington. He then
limited his political activities to private conversations and occasional articles.
He worked for the original Saturday Evening Post its last year in Philadelphia when he
titled an article about Columbus, In., Athens of the Prairie, a tag line that remained for
many years. He taught literature and writing at Albion College, Earlham College, and
Indiana University.. He also worked as a wordsmith at the Agency for Instructional
Television, and was published in the. American Spectator and the Wall Street Journal.
He was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, which he served nationally as
Mystagogue, and was co-author of its Creed in 1964. He also wrote the history of the
IU Greek system and edited The Bicentennial Report on the American College
Fraternity in the Year 2000.

His community activities included the boards of the Society of Indiana Pioneers, Public
Health Nursing Association, the Monroe County Public Library, and MCPL Foundation.
He also was alumni representative on IUs Union Board, Republican precinct
committeeman, and a member of Bloomington Rotary, where for many years he asked
the last question of the speakers. He a member also contributed to WFIUs Speak
Your Mind and was a panelist in WTIUs Pro and Con.
He was known as a true gentleman who spoke eloquently, smoked a pipe, and wore
bow ties.
He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Suzann Mitten Owen; daughter Marianne Mitten
Owen of Lafayette; son Jordan Yarling Owen (Laura Brown) of Traverse City, Mi.; and
brother John W. Owen of London, England, and his children.
He was a member and elder of First Presbyterian Church in Bloomington where his
service will be Saturday, Dec. 12, at 2 p.m. with a reception afterwards. Internment will
be at Forest Hill Cemetery in Shelbyville. The family will receive friends at their home
from 5-7 p.m. the following week.
He chose the Monroe County Public Library Foundation for memorial contributions.
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