KERR, Reverend Owen W.: Died 1981

KERR, WOLLAM, ISRAEL, POE, WILLIAMS, ROBINSON, GLASGOW

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 6/14/2021 at 18:29:07

**Handwritten: VBR 23 Apr. 19

Reverend Owen W. Kerr

Reverend Owen W. Kerr, retired Methodist pastor, passed away at the Scotland County Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Missouri, Saturday, April 4th at 4:30 p.m. He had lived in Memphis since his retirement seven years ago.

Owen was the third son born to Oliver and Erma Wollam Kerr on their farm in northeast Scotland County, Missouri. A brother, Clarence, died in infancy. His parents preceded him in death. His brother, Clyde, of Cantril, Iowa survives him.

Owen attended a rural school in the Upton District, graduated from Memphis High School, Missouri Wesleyan College and Boston University School of Theology. He did further graduate work at Harvard and at the School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem where he was involved in the archaeological diggings of Sir Flinders Petrie and Dr. Nelson Glueck in the area of Solomon's seaport and Temple. He has been listed in Who's Who in the West, Who's Who in the East, and Who Who's in Methodism.

Owen was ordained a Deacon in the Methodist Church in 1928 and an Elder in 1929. He served six pastorates - five in Massachusetts and one in Colorado. He served four years in the Chaplaincy of the United States Army during World War II. He went as a delegate to the Tenth World Methodist Conference in Oslo, Norway, in 1961, and had traveled extensively in Europe and in all fifty of the states. He was a full member of the South New England Conference. In the summer of 1979, he climbed Springer Mountain in Georgia with his daughter, Nancy, and hiked along the Appalachian Trail In Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

Locally, Owen was active in the formation of the Scotland County Historical Society, and he served as Chairman of the Council on Ministries and Vice Chairman of the Administrative Board of the Memphis Methodist Church. He was also an active member of the Scotland County Ministerial Association.

September 1, 1929, Owen was married to Iris Israel, a daughter of Frank and Sylvia Poe Israel. He is survived by his mother-in-law, his wife, their four children, Nancy Karolyn Williams, Norma Kathryn Robinson, Konrad Kerr, and Pamela Kay Glasgow, and five grandchildren, Richard and Donna Williams, Alita Glasgow, James and Jeffrey Kerr. A little grandson, John Mark Williams, preceded him in death.

Owen donated his body to the Missouri University Medical School for medical research. A memorial service conducted by Rev. Neil Dubach and fellow clergy was held at the Methodist Church in Memphis, Thursday evening, April 9th, at 7:00 p.m. Memorials may be given to the Methodist Church in Memphis or to the Scotland County Memorial Hospital.

The services were held last week.

Source: "Scrapbook 1981 - 1985", Pg. 10, Keosauqua Public Library, Keosauqua, IA