John E. Owens Jr.: Giving from the Heart

John E. Owens Jr. considered his father more of a best friend than a parent. That’s why he chose to establish the John E. Owens Sr. Memorial Scholarship fund through the Lord Fairfax Community College (LFCC) Educational Foundation Inc., after winning an essay contest sponsored by World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

“I found out about the contest through their Web site,” said Owens, a Bealeton resident. “I was bored, and it was a good topic. So on a whim, I wrote something up and was fortunate enough to be selected.”

Owens’ essay topic was “What America Means to Me.” After he found out he won, Owens authorized World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. to contribute his $2,500 winnings to the LFCC Educational Foundation Inc.

“One of the things that my father was most proud of was the fact that I would soon be graduating from college,” said Owens, whose 52-year-old father passed away from lung cancer five months before Owens graduated from LFCC in May 2005. Unfortunately, Owens’ father was not able to provide financially for his son’s education. Owens relied on federal Pell grants to get him through school.

That’s why Owens established the scholarship — to make sure that other students like him could have the same opportunities regardless of their finances.

“Honoring my dad with a memorial scholarship is just a small, small token of what he meant to me,” Owens said. “My father wanted to pay for my education but was not able to. This is my way of saying, ‘Thanks, Dad, for always being there and always supporting me!’ My father was everything to me. He dealt with so much pain with such strength and humility. He lived for my brother and myself and took care of us until his last breath.”

The senior Mr. Owens was a lifelong resident of Fauquier County who left school to work on his family’s farm. As a single parent, Owens raised two sons and wanted to see his children succeed in life.

And succeed they have. The younger Owens graduated from LFCC last spring with an associate degree in liberal arts. His long-term goals include enrolling at the University of Mary Washington to pursue a degree in journalism. “I hope to one day work for a major newspaper or magazine as well as take a stab at getting some of my works of fiction and nonfiction published.”

In the meantime, Owens is helping his aunt raise his eight-year-old brother and working at LFCC as an assistant in the Bob G. Sowder Library on the Fauquier Campus. His main responsibilities include creating a monthly new materials list for distribution to LFCC employees, handling periodical subscriptions and assisting students with research and materials.

“As both a student and an employee, I've been with LFCC for almost four years now. To me, it’s more than a school. This is my family,” Owens said. “When I came here, I had been out of high school for a year and only had my GED. I was nervous and lost as to what I wanted in life, but I found it here. Academically, professionally and personally, LFCC has been a support system for me. I think there is no better place for a person to get a jump start in life and find out who they are than right here.”