Betty Louise Dowden

Betty Louise Owens was born on March 3, 1935, to Dale and Doris Owens on a farm east of Hopkins Missouri. The many stories she told us about growing up on the farm during the late 30’s and into the Second World War were many and diverse. She told us stories about going outside and watching wave after wave of planes flying over the farm on their way to war from the factories and her and her mom waving towels at the pilots. The day they saw a deer in the pasture was an unusual treat as they had never seen one in the wild. She was amazed at how proficient and populous they had become. Ration cards and having to be quiet when the radio was on to listen to the War News lest they missed something important was the rule. She attended Unity school, which was a one-room school two miles from home along with her Brother Donald and Sister Shirley. They rode Sugar the horse to school then turned it loose to return home. When she was older, she rode the bus to Hopkins and attended Hopkins HS. Her favorite classes were bookkeeping and Home Economics. She milked cows, did chores and learned how to cook and bake from her mother. She was required to gather three baskets of corn cobs for her mother to use for cooking each day. They harvested blue grass seed and sold it in town to the seed companies. She was a typical farm girl. Family gatherings with her grandparents gave her plenty of time to get in trouble with all her cousins and were cherished memories. Joanne Espey was a close confederate during these gatherings. After High School she moved to Maryville and went to work at the St Joe Light and Power as a meter clerk. She would walk to work with her good friend Jo Ann Pittsenburger from the Dowden house on Third street where she rented a room which she shared with Virginia Barks. There she fell in with a fellow lodger named Weldon and the two soon were a couple. They married June 1st, 1956, in Maryville Missouri and moved to Borger Texas where Weldon was offered a Job with Phillips Petroleum Company. They had four children together, Thomas, Scott, Tanya and Mark. They lived in Borger Texas, Beatrice Nebraska, Seabrook Texas, St Charles Illinois, back to Borger and then finally settled in Bartlesville Oklahoma where they spent the last 43 years. They were married for 68 years. Friends were important to them both and they had many close friends that they stayed in touch with throughout their life. The Pirtles, Bonds, Raffs and the Clapps were all Borger Friends. The Royces, Bowers, and Harres were Beatrice friends, many friends in Maryville and Hopkins and in Bartlesville. Mom was a great cook and was good at making cakes and pies. Christmas seasons were always full of goodies that she made and were enjoyed by all her family. She really thrived and loved the holiday season. She was the ultimate homemaker. She loved playing Bridge and became a Bridge Master. She also was an avid reader and loved her Harlequin books. She led a senior exercise class down at the Phillips gym for several years. She and Weldon went on several trips with the Touring Bearcats and saw many countries including the European countries and Australia and New Zealand as well as the British Isles. Betty passed peacefully at home in her chair April 6 in Bartlesville Oklahoma. She was preceded in death by her parents Dale and Doris Owens, her brothers Donald and his wife June Owens, sister Shirley Stevenson and her husband Bob, brother Wayne Owens, brother Larry Dale Owens, and sister-in-Law Mary Hutcheon. She is survived by Thomas and Terrye Dowden of Amarillo Texas, Scott and Laura Dowden of Maryville Missouri, Mike and Tanya Reece of Miami Oklahoma and Mark Dowden of Atlanta Geogia. Grandchildren Sean and Kirin Dowden of Roland Park Kansas, Dustin Dowden of Maryville Missouri, Derrick and Jaime Schluter of Maryville Missouri, Braden Reece of Tulsa Oklahoma, Magnum and Alyssa Mustain of Venita Oklahoma, Braxton Reece and Cristen Knight of Miami Oklahoma and Mick Dowden of Atlanta Georgia and Nine Great Grandchildren. She is also survived by a brother, Terry Owens and his wife Melodee, a sister-in-law Ruthie Owens, a brother-in-law Mike Hutcheon, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. According to their wishes both Betty and Weldon’s ashes will be interred at Hopkins Cemetery in Hopkins Missouri overlooking the land that they truly loved at a date to be determined.

Betty Louise Dowden

March 3, 1935 - April 6, 2026