Constance Arlene Owens

Constance “Connie” A. Owens left this earth on May 30, 2023 to join her son Ken in heaven.

Connie was a gifted teacher and mentor to many throughout her life as a public school teacher and spouse of an NNU professor. Connie met Earl at Pasadena College, where amazingly it snowed and mom threw a snowball at Edad, and of course, they got married. Mom reminisced about hiding in the laundry room on Friday nights at the college because her “beau” was busy studying, and she was not out with the rest of the crew doing Friday night college things. She married her man in uniform on Psalm Sunday and was told that flowers would not be needed because the church would be full of psalm Sunday flowers. That day, there were none. The early days were lean for the young married couple while dad pursued his degrees. Two young boys, Keith and Ken, and several moves brought them to NNC in 1964, where they added another son, Kreg, and then finally a daughter, Kellie. They bought a house for a dollar down while riding an elevator and thus life in Nampa began in earnest. While Earl taught college Connie was able to finish her college degree and earn a teaching certificate.

Connie began her teaching career at a private Christian school, and then after several years, moved to West Junior High, where she taught for 30 years. She mainly taught typing, but when reminiscing, she taught over 20 different subjects from Math to History. Connie was also the lead negotiator for the IEA/NEA and spent 5 years negotiating contracts for the Nampa School District. Including taking them to strike at one point. She was tiny but had the might of Goliath, even telling the attorney “I don’t believe you” during negotiations that left him flabbergasted. Connie was everyone’s person. If you needed to talk, she was there, needed help after surgery, she was there, needed financial advice, she was there, needed a place to stay for 2 weeks to graduate high school, no problem, or stay 8 years that’s ok too, she was there.

Her granddaughter, Whitney, was thrilled to get her into teaching via Teach for America and loved hearing the stories, good or bad about her new job. She had a special bond with Patty Neavil, who was once her student and now a teacher at West Jr. High. She had good friends Jill Dux and Terry Christianson became the fearsome threesome at West. As her child, I took her typing class, I got a C. She says I earned a C. No leeway for me.

Connie and Earl traveled the world and explored all that foreign trips had to offer. The first trip using the book “Europe on $5 dollars a day” and we 5 had an amazing summer traveling in Europe. They returned several more times, just the two of them.

When I moved back home to Nampa in 2013, I wanted to be closer to my parents and to help Ken by being there for Mom and Dad. Ken checked out 8 months later, and she forever carried his ashes in a pendant on a chain. I am grateful for the years I got to spend being 1.6 miles from their house, .1 mile further than was allowed but I was known for pushing the boundaries. I am forever thankful for the years we got to spend together, going to her first BSU football game and sitting in the VIP section, seeing the Lion King live at Morrison Center, the shopping trips to Shopko. We mourned when Shopko closed and it was a running joke that “hey this a cool thing, we picked it up at Shopko” and paused for the mourning of the loss of “our store.”

Connie was generous of spirit and grace and understanding and was forever a night owl, every night at 1230 am Mom would call to say goodnight and discuss the day. Short or long conversations, work for me in the am or not I cherish those conversations.

Politics always made the call longer, and I know she is gleaming about the indictments of late.

I miss calling her from the road from wherever I happened to be on a job that weekend, just spending time at their house doing the things that needed to be done. Stupid lightbulbs always going out, to just sitting together to watch some neat show on Netflix, or mom coming to my house to chill out and watch whatever current series we were on, “Downton Abbey” or “Doc Martin” or “Call the Midwife”.

She was my best friend and confidant and accepted each new dog I brought into the fold as her new grand-dog.

Her friends and extended family are scattered to time and distance, and she did not want to have a service as she felt she had outlived most of them and did not wish to have a sparsely attended memorial service.

Mom was cremated and will be placed in a Niche at the Veterans Cemetery in Boise, Idaho.

She is survived by Earl, who resides at Heron Assisted Living in Nampa and would welcome any and all visitors. Her other children: Keith, Kreg and Kellie and her grandchildren: Whitney, Heidi and Shyanne and her great-great-grandchild Elisha, all reside in Idaho and deeply mourn our loss of our mother and mama.

She was preceded in death by her son, Kenneth Owens.