MARY OWEN

Mary Jane Owen  
Long-time peace activist and advocate for disabled rights, died at 90 on July 14, 2019, at her home in Washington. Born in Illinois to parents who were both Methodist ministers and raised in a family with feminist values, Owens developed a life-long resume of political and personal accomplishment that began as a young woman. Even before her graduate studies at University of California, Berkeley, she was active in support of the Congress of Racial Equality, the Free Speech Movement, the efforts to build People's Park, and to end the war in Vietnam.  During her tenure as a faculty member in the sociology department at Berkeley, she lost her sight, and consequently marshaled her energies into work for universal accessibility and dignity for disabled Americans, first in California and ultimately in Washington, DC, where she worked with others to advance Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and testified before Congress in support of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Although she regained partial sight during the 1990s, Ms. Owen began using a wheel chair, which became a source of freedom for her spirit to travel the neighborhood; she remained a passionate and undaunted worker for progressive causes, her Adams Morgan community, the Dupont Circle Village, open to diverse religious beliefs including Islam, and as a mentor to many, believing in the good of her neighbors and friends.  She was predeceased by her daughter, India, and is survived by Paulina Stout, a cousin in Massachusetts. A memorial service is being planned for September 8.