Donald William Owen Jr.

Donald William Owen Jr., of Santa Cruz, California, passed away peacefully on November 16, 2025, at the age of 93. He was born on May 5th, 1932, in Vallejo, California, to Donald Owen Sr. and Emily Owen (Ellis). Some of his fondest memories were in his younger years, living in a boarding house, that his grandparents ran, in Tacoma, WA, while his father was off to sea as a navy man. Here Donny developed the beginning stages of his lifelong love of imagination and acting, starting with pretending he was out to sea with his father, whom he always longed to be with, which also developed into a deep interest and respect of WWII history.

By age 13, Donald moved to Santa Cruz, CA, to live with his father and stepmother and four younger siblings in a house their grandfather built, that was built from a chicken coop, on La Fonda Avenue. He joined the navy at age 18 and shortly after married Teresa McCambridge, whom he met through her brother, Terry. Together, Don and Teresa had four children (Brian, Kevin, Kelli and Terri).

After almost 20 years, the marriage ran its course, as they say, and Donald began a rather colorful life, exploring various interests, which included living on a sailing boat in the Santa Cruz Harbor, during the late 70s, taking crowds of people out sailing during Wednesday night races. He spent many weekends playing percussion instruments, on the Cooper House patio, for the band called Warmth, and started delving into theater acting and working as an extra on some locally filmed movies. In the early 80s he went on to take a job as a HR Manager for Citizens Utilities, in Redding, CA, where he continued his acting enthusiasm, in the local theater, along with being an occasional host for the public TV station. He also loved to play tennis and meet friends for dinner and dancing.

After retirement, and a handful of attempts at marriage, Donald continued to pursue his dream of becoming a renowned actor with a relocation to NYC where he played "Off Broadway" shows, small parts in various commercials and soap operas, and a short-lived stint on a late-night MTV show, with Connan O'Brien. Later he would relocate to the Los Angeles area where he continued with small parts in various TV shows and had one speaking line in a movie called, Across the Line, and he also taught acting classes at a local college. His acting interests would later take him to Hawaii where he worked as an extra in the TV series called, Lost, and enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren who lived there at the time.

At age 75, while living in Germany, he survived a massive heart attack. Following this event, he moved back to Santa Cruz to spend quality time with his family and became an integral member of his AA family where he bragged that he had the "oldest chip in town". He was known as a character figure of Santa Cruz, who would travel through the streets on his scooter, with his curly, white hair blowing in the wind, as he made his way to early riser meetings, the latest movie premier and making inappropriate comments to the ladies along the way. Even up until the last few weeks of life, he would get up early, jump into his wheelchair and make his way over to the nurse's station where he would tell wild stories about his plans to pick out a new sports car or get a flight out to Hawaii where he believed he owned numerous homes and businesses.

Donald is proceeded in death by his father (Donald Owen Sr.), mother (Emily Ellis), Stepmother (Helen Owen), maternal brother (Richard Owen), paternal brother (Gary Owen), maternal sisters (Donna, Diane and Candy), brother-in-law (Robert Agorastos), and nephew (Lawrence Agorastos). He is survived by three siblings (Sharon Agorastos, James Owen and Megan Fuller), his four children (Brian Owen, Kevin Owen, Kelli Owen and Terri Owen), eight grandchildren (Madea, Inessa, Faith, Zachary, Briar, Hadly, Liam and Ricardo), six great-grandchildren (Jesse, Zoe, Isaiah, Devin, Indy and Alina), at least 12 or more nieces and nephews (including Rick, Little Rob, Jennifer, Jessica, Elizabeth and Cameron) and numerous step-grandchildren and great nieces and great nephews of which are too many to list.

The memorial service has been scheduled at the Seaside Veterans Cemetery on February 5th, 2026, at 2PM, at the pavilion, followed by a buy-your-own meal at some restaurant to be announced at a later time or during the memorial service. Please RSVP if you are attending the memorial service and/or would like to join us for a meal afterwards to [email protected]

Donald was considered an amusing character with a loveable personality to those who knew him and he loved to socialize with everyone he met. He will be greatly missed.