Esther Owen

A memorial service for Esther Bjerre Bowles Owen, 91, will take place March 27, 2010, in Minnesota.  Mrs. Owen died Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010, in Bloomington. Minnesota.

She was born March 28, 1918, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the daughter of Peder and Ydun Bjerre.  She moved to Lawrence in 1980, and to Minnesota in 1998.

She was preceded in death by her parents, five siblings, two great grandchildren, and three husbands; Donald W. Bowles, Otto Simpson, and Rev. George B. Owen.    For many years she owned and operated the EBB Dance School in Burnsville, Minnesota.  She was house mother for the Delta Delta Delta sorority at Oregon State University in 1979 and Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity at the University of Kansas in 1980.

Survivors include two daughters, Priscilla Muttel and husband Robert, Windsor, Colorado, and Cynthia Bowles Bjerre and husband Reid Parkinson, Minneapolis, Minnesota; two sons, Don Bowles and wife Virginia, LaPorte, Minnesota, and William Bowles and wife Jane, Pacific Grove, California; and one stepson, David Owen and wife Ellyn, Baldwin City; and 16 grandchildren, Any Muttel-Rafoul, Anthony Muttel, Michael Muttel, James Muttel, Peter Muttel, Bridget Muttel, Dominic Muttel, Ydun Koentopf Safronoff, David Koentopf, Dirk Koentopf, Shawn Bowles, Dale Bowles, Becky Kvamme, Wende Olsen, William Bowles, Ann Bahl; and two step grandchildren, Heather McGee and Jennifer Bravo; 25 great grandchildren, two great great grandchildren, two step great grandchildren, and one step great great grandchild.

The family suggests memorials to the Alzheimer’s Research Center, 640 Jackson
St., St. Paul, MN 55101   Condolences may be left at 651-642-5125.  Details about the memorial service may be obtained at the same phone number.