An Interview with Grandad Owens-Part 3

8. When did you come to know the Lord?
I was raised in a Methodist church.  I came to know the Lord when I was 12 through the influence of a Sunday School teacher and my mother.  I was not immersed in baptism, though, until I joined a Baptist church with your grandmother in Gonzalez, Texas.

9. Overview of Life
I joined the service at the end of my junior year in college.  I was part of the Air Force Band and was stationed in Waco, Texas  for 3 years, 1942-1945.  My best friend, Leon, was in the Air Force with me.  We never got split up during our time in the service.  After I completed my time in the service, I went back to LSU and finished my senior year.  Around 1943 or 1944, your grandmother finished college at Eastman and began her first teaching job.  Her first job was in Port Arthur, Texas, and she was paid $1200 a year.  

When I finished my degree at LSU, we began looking for places to study for our masters degrees.  We looked into North Texas University but decided not to go there because they did not offer fellowships to married couples.  We ended up going to Baylor because they did offer the fellowships for married couples.  I began teaching as a Assistant Band Director and Mae taught some method classes. 

 In 1948, we finished our masters degrees and then moved to Gonzalez.  We were in Gonzalez from 1948-1952.  Your dad was born in 1950.  During our time there, I taught band and your grandmother taught choir and orchestra.  We moved to Marshall in 1952 and were there until 1960.  Barry and Tim were born here.  During this time, Mae stayed home with the boys. 

 In 1960, we moved to Amarillo and I began teaching band and orchestra at Sam Houston School.  Mae and I also played in The Amarillo Symphony.  We lived in Amarillo until 1967 and then got an offer to start teaching at some summer music camps.  Through our connections at these music camps, we were offered positions to teach at Hardin Simmons University in Abilene, TX.  I taught there until 1981 and Mae taught there until 1979.  She played in a Faculty String Quartet during her time there.  During our time in Abilene, we left the Baptist church we were attending because we were hungry for the Word, so we started attending Abilene Bible Church.  We got involved in Bible Memory Association and we all started memorizing Scripture verses each week.  The boys memorized verses according to their ages and then a man would come over and listen to us recite our verses.  The Lord used that to instill the Word in us.  While living in Abilene, we began teaching at Interlochen, a music camp in Michigan, during the summers.  In 1981, I moved into full time church ministry at a little church in Abilene.  I was the music and education minister.  

In 1983, we moved back to Amarillo and I started working at Temple Baptist as their education pastor.  I would lead and coordinate Bible studies.  I resigned from there in 1988.  In 1988, I became the part-time education pastor at Trinity Baptist Church.  I did that for about 2-3 years.  Mae and I also got involved in children's work, where we would do backyard Bible clubs through Child Evangelism Fellowship.  Mae was very involved.  She did most of the teaching.  We would hold these clubs in apartment complexes around the city.  

Part 4 coming soon!