T h Ae J Ow e n s Fa m i l y acksonian Legacy The marriage between Jackson State University and the Owens family has been a long and fruitful one, resulting in its members cornering their own unique places in the marketplace. Bob Owens, has become a successful attorney, Dr. Jasmin Chapman, a top medical executive at the state’s largest community-based health center, Dr. Gwen Harrison, a pharmacist in Mobile, Alabama, Jody Owens as a teacher in Hinds County and Principal at Terry High School, Darline Owens-Slater, a homemaker, Dianna Owens Watson, a longtime financial analyst with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi and Levon Owens, a successful cattle and land developer who attended Alcorn State University, is the lone “nonJacksonian”. The matriarch of the family, Inez Owens, reared seven children in rural Terry, Mississippi as a single parent following the death of her husband, Edward Lee Owens in the mid-1960s. Though she nor her husband completed high school, they instilled in their children the belief that education was the key to self-sufficiency. Mrs. Owens later received a GED and also took a few classes at Jackson State University. “Laziness was not tolerated,” said Dr. Jasmin Chapman, who has served as CEO of the Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center since 1999. “Mom would say that she tried to do the best for her children like any other mother. We worked hard. We were blessed, and God directed our paths.” Accountability and responsibility were hallmarks of everyday life on the Owens farm where each child had specific chores. With an unwavering faith in God and an unparalleled work ethic, the Owens have each made notable achievements in their respective professions.
Owens Family: (l-r) Bob Owens, Jasmine Chapman, Diana Watson, Jody Owens, Inez Owens (mother).
The Jacksonian / Collector’s
Sutter Levon Owens
Gwendolyn Harrison
Darline Slater
Bob Owens, whose Jackson law firm was named among the Winningest Law Firms in the United States in the National Law Journal (July 2002), recalled working to help his family while taking a full course load in the History department at JSU, often driving the family’s cattle truck to the west Jackson campus. “In those days, all my friends knew we were coming when they saw that dusty old truck coming down the street,” mused Bob, a 1973 JSU alumnus who went on to earn the Juris Doctor degree from Florida State University and to win million-dollar cases in the areas of medical and pharmaceutical negligence, automobile accidents and other health-related illnesses. He and his siblings describe their early years at Jackson State as instrumental in building their self-confidence academically and professionally. “We will forever be grateful to JSU, which stands as a beacon of hope in the community,” said Dr. Chapman, a 1974 JSU graduate who received the Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 1979 from the University of Iowa. “We continue to promote Black colleges to our children. In addition to Jackson State being accessible and affordable, the support and the nurturing from our instructors contributed to us graduating from college. Had it not been for Jackson State, we might not have made it.” Enduring faith, love of family and the “Jacksonian” tradition have forever endeared the Owens family to the Hinds County community. Their success pales only in comparison to their genuine humility. “Like any other family, we have had our trials, but adversity builds character,” said Dr. Chapman. “We were taught to be as separate as the fingers, but as together as the palm. We were each other’s support. “We believe, ‘you are your brother’s keeper.’”
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