Michael Lee Owen

1969 - 2021

Michael Lee Owen

Michael Lee Owen was born in Dothan in 1969. By the time he could express an opinion, his Mother knew he was a man of a different sort. At 5 years old he would pitch a fit if made to wear matching clothes and preferred to follow his own eclectic sense of fashion. MO, as he came to be known by all who loved him, developed an early affinity for all forms of equipment. He loved to see simple things that worked well. When he decided to play baseball at age 6, his father agreed to teach him any position and MO chose catcher as catchers get the most equipment and are involved in every play. Playing through high school, he only lost 6 games and never once failed to catch a pitch. MO graduated from Northview High School in 1987 and his parents pushed for him to attend college. After one semester at Wallace College, MO announced that, "I don't need to learn this," and promptly quit school to find his way in the world. MO's affinity for equipment continued and he started work with Kenworth of Dothan as a Shop Porter and delivering parts. He learned & worked his way to Used Truck Manager. While at Kenworth, MO met Kama Bledsoe, they married in 1995 and began a 26-year adventure together.

In 2000, MO began selling for Parish Truck Sales, located near New Orleans. MO had a great love for the area music, art, and food. He was invited to join Knights of Sparta & was their 51st Mardi Gras King, gaining a key to the city of New Orleans. Years later he would bring his knowledge and love of Mardi Gras to Dothan and form the Krewe of Kolosse.

He later started MOJO Trucking and most recently was Equipment Manager for Wiregrass Construction. His love for and knowledge of transportation and constant thirst for authentic experiences are the essence of MO. While driving a tractor trailer could seem dull to some, MO used it as an excuse to see the country and to learn all the things a person cannot find in school. He sought every dive bar, every diner, and every character in between. There was never a stranger and everywhere was home. He shunned tourist places and knew how to find friends and drinking buddies on Indian Reservations, Spanish speaking Barrios, and remote communities wherever he roamed.

MO was never content with what everyone else knew or did. He needed to see what else was out there to know, experience, and to learn. A friend once commented that while on a road trip MO would read Friedrich Nietzsche, a 19th century German philosopher, poet, and artist. Because of his constant reading, and thirst for novel experiences, MO could sit and talk with anyone from a high school drop-out to a scholar discussing their PhD thesis or a city planner discussing how to build for the future. MO could make a sale to anyone, anywhere, selling anything. One of his favorite stories was making a deal on the sale of a tractor trailer to a man who agreed to put up a herd of goats as a down payment.

After 12 years of adventures on the road MO joined the Wiregrass Construction team in 2015. This allowed MO more time at home to be with his greatest love, his family. His daughter Isabelle and his son Will were loved dearly and a source of great pride. He was the best embodiment of a renaissance man Dothan has ever known. A painter, a poet, a chef, a mechanic, a naturalist in the woods and a loving husband, father and son.

MO and Kama found folk art in unlikely places and amassed a collection of art that is nothing short of a marvel. They did not just buy a piece of art they liked. MO and Kama would visit with the artists and learn their methods, their philosophies and their views on their own work and leaving not as patrons, but as friends. He did not collect art from people he did not like. MO and Kama attended Nativity Episcopal Church where MO was a breakfast chef, usher, shepherd and most recently, Senior Warden of the Vestry. He served as president of the Wiregrass Museum of Art and always loved a field trip to Homer and Janice's Lounge.

Mike Owen left us far too soon on July 10, 2021 at his home in the Garden District of Dothan. He is survived by his wife Kama Bledsoe Owen, daughter Isabelle Owen of New York, NY and son Will Owen of Dothan, AL. He is also survived by his parents Roy and Myrian Owen of Ashford. His friends are legion and to describe all the groups of people made better for his living would take more than this small space allows. MO did not fit in small spaces.

The funeral service for Mike will be held on Friday, July 16th at 2:00 PM at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Dothan. The family asks that in lieu of flowers and gifts, donations be made in Mike's memory to the Wiregrass Museum of Art or the Episcopal Church of the Nativity.

Glover Funeral Home of Dothan has been entrusted with the arrangements. (334) 699-3888.

Please sign the guestbook online at www.gloverfuneral.com