CHESTER C OWENS

Chester “Charles” Lee Herman Owens, Jr.

Chester “Charles” Lee Herman Owens, Jr., entered the world as the second child born to Chester Cole Owens and Martha Frances Hughes Owens, on April 9, 1933, in Ashdown, Arkansas.  He was affectionally known by his family and close friends as “Charles.”  His family moved to Kansas City, Kansas when he was a teenager and  joined First African Methodist Episcopal Church where he accepted Christ at a young age.  He attended the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools and graduated from Sumner High School in 1949.  He also attended the Kansas City, Kansas Community College/Sumner Division.  He served four years in the United States Air Force, 1951-1955 and received an Honorable Discharge as S/SGT.  He also received the Korean Service Medal, United Nations Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal. He earned the Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the Kansas State Teachers College of Pittsburg (Pittsburg, Kansas). 

On October 15, 1955, Chester married the love of his life, the late Lillie Anne Yates to whom he was happily married for sixty-two years prior to her death.  To this union, three daughters were born, Cynthia Marie, Karen Lenora, and the youngest, Carla Anne, who preceded him in death.  He was the world’s best grandfather to his grandsons, Larry Dean and Kaleb Charles.  Moreover, Chester was elated beyond the moon when his only great-granddaughter, Charleigh Corinne Heiress was born in December 2020.  Miss Charleigh loved her “G-Paw!”  He and Lillie also became surrogate parents to their six foster sons whom they loved dearly, also a surrogate daughter, TajSheena Ross Harrison, as well as countless other young people who claimed him as Dad, Grandpa, Uncle or Godfather.  

Chester’s professional career included a more than sixty-year range of board memberships, leadership roles and capacities, as well as religious and fraternal organizations, to include Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated and Sigma Pi Phi Theta Boulé.  He was also the recipient of more than seventy awards, both locally and nationally.  He successfully owned and operated the H. W. Sewing & Company, Inc., Independent Insurance Agency for more than thirty years and sold the company in 1998, at the time of his retirement. 

In addition to being a devoted husband and father, in his early professional career, Chester took a leave of absence from H.W. Sewing & Company, Inc., in order to break the color barrier for non-salaried employees at the General Motors Fairfax Plant in Kansas City, Kansas, becoming the first African American salaried employee there.  His sacrifice paved the way for other African American salaried employees.  Later, he helped lead the effort to keep General Motors from closing the plant in Kansas City, Kansas.  A comprehensive list of his numerous accomplishments, and civic affiliations throughout the State of Kansas and beyond, which are too many to name, include his lifetime membership of the NAACP serving as Chairman of its Labor and Industry Committee from 1960-1963; President of the Sumner High School Alumni Association, of which the Alumni Room housed within the now Sumner Academy, is named in his honor.  He served as a board member of the Sickle Cell Anemia Disease Association of America, Uriel E. Owens Chapter, and on the Advisory Board of the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project.  In 2011, The Kansas City, Kansas YouthBuild Training Center building was named the “Chester Owens, Jr. Construction Skills Training Center,” also in his honor.  In 1965, he and his wife, Lillie, co-founded The Hub Bookstore, which was a clearinghouse for black literature, history and culture.  Chester was instrumental in shaping the minds of a plethora of young men and women who found The Hub a gathering place for learning and thought-provoking engagement.

Chester served faithfully for more than sixty years as Steward, Trustee Emeritus, and Sunday School Superintendent at the church he loved so dearly, First A.M.E.  One of his greatest achievements, that he humbly considered a divine gift, was to teach Sunday School at First A.M.E. for thirty-two years.  Through his non-traditional teaching style, he influenced and inspired many of his former students, who to this day declare the profound impact he had on their spiritual and professional lives.  He served faithfully, leading and collaborating with the members of the Struggler’s Hill/Roots Neighborhood Association as well as serving on numerous other boards and commissions throughout his entire lifetime.  He was a servant of the people.

In 1983, Chester was elected to the Kansas City, Kansas City Council; the first African American elected to City Government in the 20th century and served two terms, upon deciding not to run for re-election.  He remained an advocate for justice in the Civil Rights Movement, which included ongoing collaboration with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as an active participant in the current movements for equity and equality.  He was bold; he was daring, and often quoted the Scripture: “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline” (2 Tim. 1:7). He was a sought-after historian in African American history with emphasis on the African American community in Wyandotte County, Kansas and the African Methodist Episcopal Church.  In October 2019, he was selected as one of the HistoryMakers, the nation’s largest collection of African American Video Oral History Collection by the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.  His oral and written life account is also housed in libraries across the country.

In appreciation of service to humanity in Wyandotte County, Kansas, in July 2024, the Mayor of Kansas City, Kansas honored him with the Key To The City that accompanied the naming of a street in memory of he and his beloved wife, Lillie Anne Yates Owens.  Additionally, a city-wide reception was held in his honor sponsored by the Struggler’s Hill/Roots Neighborhood Association, and an appreciation gathering by the Sumner High School Alumni Association. He was filled with joy beyond measure at the outpouring of love and recognition.

On August 22, 2024, Chester departed this life and leaves to cherish his memory: Daughters, Dr. Cynthia Owens-Harris (Leo); Rev. Dr. Karen L. Owens, and father-figure to TajSheena Ross Harrison; grandsons, Larry Dean Jones, II and Kaleb Charles Jones; great-granddaughter, Charleigh Corinne Heiress Jones; siblings, Colleen Lenora Pilson, Virginia Ray Kirkwood, Frances Delores Haywood, Sandra LaDonna Owens, William Douglas Owens (Alta); (brothers Argustus Thomas Owens, and Uriel Edward Owens preceded him in death); sister-in-law Alice Marie Yates Banks (Rev. Jimmie Banks); brother-in-law John Wilbur Yates, III (Faye); sister-in-law Elaine Browne Owens; surrogate sons, Alfred (deceased), Albert, Leander, Arthur, Eugene, and Michael Brand; special life-long friends Dorothy and James McField, Rev. Charles P. Lucas, Jr., Gerald and Melba Hall, Wade Banks, Jr., a plethora of nieces, nephews, friends, mentees, and other young people who loved him like a father.  May he rest in sweet, sweet peace.  To God Be The Glory!

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