Lt Col (retired) United States Air Force 1985-2006

Charles Owen is the son of Creighton and Gloria Owen.   His parents were impactful citizens and their influence on his life continues to this day.

Creighton and Gloria were both born in 1925.  They found each other in first grade in Leesville in 1931.   Both were graduates of Leesville High School in 1942.  Creighton received his Bachelor's and Master’s degree from LSU, and Gloria was a graduate of Port Arthur Business School.   Creighton left LSU in 1943 for World War II and returned after the war to finish his education.    They were married in 1955 and adopted two children, Mae Ann and Charles.    Both were adopted from the Methodist Home Hospital in New Orleans.

The couple owned a lady’s ready-to-wear store, the “Style Center.”  The store was open in Leesville from 1950-1992.   Creighton was first a school teacher, then a counselor, curriculum director, then Superintendent of Schools in Vernon Parish.    He was the State President of the Superintendent’s for one year and set standards for schools in Vernon Parish that turned the district into one of the best in the state.  He was an “educator’s educator” and focused acutely on curriculum, infrastructure, professional development of teachers and the improvement of the education system for students.

Gloria was the principle manager of the Style Center and Creighton would come and work at the store after the school days would end. 

In the years after retiring from the school system, Creighton served in many civic capacities, including being a member of and 2 time president of the Vernon Chamber of Commerce.   Creighton and Gloria were very active in the Association of the United States Army, the Vernon Arts Council and the United Methodist Church in Leesville. 

From 1992 until his death in 2002, Creighton was the site director (Dean) of Northwester State University at Leesville/Fort Polk.   He took on a foundering campus with withering student population and tripled enrollment and established numerous programs, including full bachelor degrees and 2 year nursing programs.   His accomplishments were so great that the State of Louisiana named the administration building on the campus after Mr. Owen in the immediate aftermath of his passing.  Gloria remained active in civic activities in the years after Creighton’s death but passed away in 2012

Representative Charles Owen gives great and immeasurable credit to his parents for teaching him a work ethic, a love for community, state and country and helping him establish a firm faith in God and appreciation for family.