Lois Owens – Pioneer Parachutist
‘Grandma Owens’ Adds a Year To Store of Borrowed Time
By John A. Forssen
Mrs. Lois Owens had her 84th birthday last week, thus adding another year to her store of borrowed time, probably one of the largest in this part of the country.
Mrs. Owens can lay claim to 67 years of borrowed time. She was 17 when she broke her back and otherwise injured herself in a parachute jump and the doctors gave her up for dead.
Yes, a parachute jump – Mrs. Owens was one the fearless aeronauts who made balloon ascensions at county fairs and returned to earth by parachute.
She made more than 150 leaps before her last, when she drifted away from the fairgrounds and landed on the roof of a house and was dragged through trees and down to the ground.
She not only survived that experience, but went on to many other things, most important of which has been a life of kindly deeds and hard work. She never had a child of her own, but is loved as “Grandma Owens” by nieces, nephews, their children and the neighborhood kids.
Mrs. Owens has slowed down a bit now, but she still cares for her neat little house at 1509 S. 10th St. She has to have some help on the gardening, but put up more than 100 jars of jams and jellies during the past year. She gave nearly all of it away, along with her special formula candied popcorn and exquisitely beautiful artificial sweetpeas she makes herself.
Her many friends didn’t forget her at Christmas, when she received more than 90 cards, or on her 84th birthday. She received many cards, personal cards and a lovingly decorated birthday cake.
Mrs. Owens was born Jan. 17, 1876 at Eisenach, near Weimar, Saxsony, Germany, and came to this country at the age of 4 with her parents. She was a parachutist for three years and after that worked in railroad construction with her first husband, a contractor, ran a resort and did cooking for ranchers and construction crews.
A photograph of Mrs. Owens accompanied the article above. The caption for the photograph stated the following:
Two pictures of Mrs. D. M. Owens, made 68 years apart. The photo below shows her as she looked 68 years ago, when she was billed as “the most beautiful aeronaut in the world.” Mrs. Owens, who for three years made her living at balloon ascensions and parachute leaps, has traded her fame for a wide circle of staunch friends who are charmed by her friendly and kindly nature, evidenced by the picture above.
The article above appeared in the Daily Missoulian on January 24, 1960.
Pioneer Woman Parachutist Dies at Age 90
Louise (Lois) Owens, 90, Hillside Manor, died in a local hospital Thursday evening.
She was born Jan. 17, 1876, in Germany, married David W. Owens in McIntosh, S.D., in 1919 and came to Missoula in 1928. Her husband died in March of 1955.
Mrs. Owens was one of the earliest women parachutists in the country. She was a lifelong member of the Church of the Nazarene.
She is survived by a step-daughter, Mrs. Herman Mouw, Orange City, Iowa; and a sister-in-law, Mrs. Delilah Barker, Billings.
Funeral services will be Monday at 2 p.m. in the Marsh, Powell & Livingston Chapel with burial in Missoula city.
The obituary above appeared in the Daily Missoulian on May 13, 1966.