On Friday, May 17, 2019, Francis P. Owens donned his white robe and drew his last breath at the Roosevelt Medical Center in Culbertson, MT. He had fought an 8 month battle with cancer and was tired of hurting, so with his special nurses and his sister at his side he went to be with the Lord.

Francis was born June 17, 1943 to Charles and Evelyn Owens in Williston, ND. He was the second of 4 children born to Chuck & Evelyn with an older sister Ruby and twin brother and sister Roy & Joy born 13 years later. As they grew up, Fran took care of Joy and Ruby took care of Roy. A stillborn sibling happened in between.

He went to some high school and then went to work for Robert & Ruth Nyquist for 17 years on their farm. After Dad had a heart attack he returned to the family farm and also spent 22 years working at Sitting Bull Cattle Auction in Williston. He loved his animals, enjoyed working the soil, but hated having to mechanic. You knew when he was working on a piece of machinery because you could hear him say he was going to run it into the river or at least down a tall hill! He retired from farming but was instrumental in keeping our Mom at home when she fell victim to that ugly cancer word as well.

Life for Frannie was simple…..he loved his kitties and could be seen with a number of them trailing after him as he worried more about them eating than feeding himself. He loved the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Twins, but most of all he loved whatever the Bainville Bulldogs were participating in. He followed the Bulldogs to football games, basketball games and even track meets. He had his spot on the top row of the bleachers and if you wanted to find him you just looked to his spot. His favorite thing was following the entire track career of Chance Hyatt. A phone call would be made to see how he did, even in college. He couldn’t wait to tell his sister about the first graduation announcement he received that was sent to him personally….thank you Mark Heen for putting him on top of the world!

Family, friends, neighbors and his Halloween kids were very important to him. He looked forward to visits from Ruby and her family and Roy and his family. He loved to see that motorcycle riding in. He started his own trick or treat tradition with the area kids. He spent a lot of time at the Welcome Stop playing with his favorite little girl and getting in trouble with grandma for making too much noise. But they didn’t care did you Gwendolyn. He frequented Landtech catching up on the news around Bainville and telling his stories. As he became more immobile, he would spend his days watching for the school buses to go by in the morning, make his rounds of calls to the neighbors, and wait for his coffee buddy Karen to bring a treat and share a cup of coffee. He loved to check the weather that always came from the West if the wind was blowing or a storm was brewing. And he looked forward to meat-cutting time at the Brookman’s.

Frannie always hurt when he lost someone close to him. He valued his friends and a drop by visit. His hardest was when he lost his best friend Marlin Brookman. He never really got over that and would still talk about their “adventures”, whether it was going out to eat or riding the tractor down the hill while planting trees. You could see the hurt in his eyes when he talked about Marlin. Thank you Marlin and Chris for loving him unconditionally.

Francis is survived by his sister, Ruby Dunn-Owens of Missoula, MT; brother, Roy Owens of Dickinson, ND; sister, Joy from Bainville, MT; niece, Dannelle Solonar; nephews, Brad Barnett, Gary Barnett and Christopher Owens all of Dickinson, ND; niece-in-law, Tina Baker Hagen Hunt (Aaron); great nieces Morgan Solonar and AnnMarie Baker. He is also survived by very special cousins.

He was preceded in death by his grandparents; his parents Chuck & Evelyn; two nephews, Chad and Shawn Hagen; sister-in-law, Sue Owens and all his aunts and uncles on both sides. Preceding him also was his best friend Marlin Brookman. Rest in peace “Frannie”