Obituary - Pauli D. Owens

Pauli Owens, 90, Moscow

Pauli Owens died at the age of 90 on Jan. 24, 2012, surrounded by her family.

Pauline Delight Hartung was born Dec. 23, 1921, near Ft. Wayne, Ind., to Ersle Gerig and Everett Hartung. She lived in Anderson, Ind., from 1935 to 1944. She attended Anderson College from 1938 to 1940, then transferred to Kalamazoo College in Michigan, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1942. She received her master's degree in social work in 1944.

She married Warren Owens Jan. 20, 1946. Pauli practiced social work in Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Washington and Idaho, and was director of the Whitman County Mental Health Center in Pullman from 1969 until 1985.

During the 1970s, she was responsible for providing professional music therapists to the three Whitman County nursing homes. After retiring as director of the center, she was assistant professor of social work in the sociology department at Washington State University from 1985 to 1987. As a clinical social worker, she maintained a private practice from 1987 to 1993.

She held memberships in the National Association of Social Workers, National Organization of Women, and League of Women Voters in Moscow, and served on various boards including Region II Mental Health, League of Women Voters in Moscow, Alternatives to Violence on the Palouse, Latah Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Better Living Inc., and Gritman Adult Day Health. One of her great joys was being a volunteer in a first grade at Russell School and West Park School.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Warren, in 2006, and her son Andrew, who died of cancer in 1989. She is survived by two daughters; one son; and two grandsons.

Cremation has taken place, with burial in the family plot in Moscow Cemetery. A celebration of life for both Pauli and Warren will be conducted in the spring. Memorial contributions may be made to the Andrew Owens Music Scholarship, University of Idaho Foundation, P.O. Box 443143, Moscow, ID 83844-3143.

We would like to thank the nursing staff of the second floor of Gritman Hospital for the kindness and compassion they showed not just to our mother, but to our family. Civil rights activist, feminist, pacifist, Gray Panther: Our mother was a champion of social issues, and devoted her life to easing the suffering of others. She leaves behind a legacy of good works and children in whom she instilled her philosophy that in this world, we must all take care of each other.

"Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, or glory in the flower; we will grieve not; rather find strength in what remains behind."
- William Wordsworth

Lewiston Tribune, January 25, 2012, p. 5D
Transcribed by Jill Leonard Nock