Family and friends of the late Penn Owen of Como, Mississippi, gathered on the University of Mississippi’s Oxford campus recently to celebrate the dedication of the Ole Miss Memory Garden. At the podium (from left) are Penn Owen III, his siblings Davis Owen and Meredith Owen Holbrook, Rev. Warren Black and UM Foundation president Wendell Weakley. Seated at right is Dean Emeritus of Students Sparky Reardon. Donations from the Class of 2006 and the Tippah County Ole Miss Alumni Club provided funds to begin this project. In the past few years, Owen’s generous giving helped complete the project, which is dedicated in memory of his mother, Mary “May” McGehee Davis Owen, a 1928 Liberal Arts graduate, also of Como.
By Bill Dabney