Photograph of Bill Owen, staff member at the W.K. Kellogg Library
- PC1, Box 64, Folder 59
- File
- [1997]
File is a photograph of Bill Owen accompanied by his obituary. Obituary reads: OWEN, William Hampton (Bill) / Owen, William Hampton (Bill) - 59, Halifax, passed away peacefully at home i the early hours of April 5, 1998, after a long struggle with cancer. Born in Townsville, Australia, Bill was the only child of the late Gordon Hampton Owen and the late Ruth (Clarke) Owen. Bill had a rich and varied life that took many interesting turns. He graduated from Melbourne University with a B.Sc. in 1960 and M.Sc. in 1964, and from Sydney University with a PhD in reproductive physiology in 1969. That same year he came to Halifax on post-doctoral fellowship with the Fisheries Research Board. After two years, he was in search of a career change and drove tractor trailers for a year before setting off for travels in Central and South America. After he returned to Canada, he spent a years studying Grizzly bears in the Arctic, then in 1975 took an M.Sc. in medical parasitology at the London School of Tropical Medicine. Following this, he worked as a miner in Thompson, Man., and then on the log booms on the British Columbia coast. In 1980, he graduated from Dalhousie University with a master of library service, and settled down to being a reference librarian at the Kellogg Health Science Library for the next 17 years, until his early retirement in June 1997 due to ill health. He was an avid bird watcher, photographer, traveller and had a great love of poetry, music and nature. Bill was a tireless advocate of the rights of the East Timorese, and many other causes both local and global. He had a keen wit and a booming laugh, and lived his life with great honesty, integrity and generosity. Bill is mourned by his beloved wife, Audrey Louise Samson, and his cherished children, Phoebe Ruth and Max; stepmother, Mary Owen, and stepbrothers, Tom and David Biltoft, Melbourne; his "adopted family" the Annands: Betty, Wendy, Kirk and Chris; and his many, many friends and relations in Australia and Canada. Cremation has taken place. Bill will be remembered at a gathering at the hall of the Universalist Unitarian Church, 5500 Inglis St., at 1 p.m. on Monday, April 13. Memorial donations may be made to the food bank, Oxfam or East Timor Alert Network, 33659-5th Ave., Mission, B.C., V2V 1X1. Arrangements entrusted to Dignity Cremation Services, Halifax.
