Community mourns loss of sassy, spunky, sweet 16-year-old

In her 16 years, 6 months and 16 days of life, Jessie Owens left her mark on the Holyoke community, and she is dearly missed in the days following her death Monday, March 21.

Around 6 p.m., Jessie was in a one-car accident in a Chevy pickup southwest of Holyoke on County Road 20, 1.5 miles west of Highway 385.

Approximately 900-1,000 people packed into Phillips County Event Center on Saturday, March 26, for Jessie’s funeral.

“It was a testament to show how many people she impacted here,” said Shauna Strecker, Jessie’s ag teacher and FFA adviser at Holyoke JR/SR High School. “She had a gift of relating to people — young and old.”

It didn’t matter if a person was 2 or 102, Jessie showed compassion, kindness and love to all those she met. “She loved older people, and she loved kids, and she tolerated the rest of us,” said Jessie’s mom, Joan Owens, with a laugh.

She was a popular babysitter and dog sitter, and she spent countless hours with residents at the local nursing home. She even worked there at the front door check-in, but she’d tell her mom, “I’d rather come and spend time with the residents.”

Jessie was known for her sneaky random acts of kindness, like decorating softball coach Kendra Schlachter’s car — inside and out — for her birthday and bringing Strecker coffee before school on days when she knew she was stressed.

“I owe that girl so much money!” said Strecker with a smile. “She was extremely thoughtful and intuitive,” noting that Jessie knew she needed help before she even said anything.

Jessie was always willing to help other people and was always putting others first, said her sister, Rebecca Owens.

Mixed in with that sweetness was some sass and some spunk — something Jessie will be remembered for. “She was always quick on her toes with her comebacks and remarks,” said Schlachter.

“She always left with the final word,” said Jessie’s dad, Randy Owens.

Jessie was full of life. “Her smile and laughter could light up a room,” added Schlachter, not to mention the red Crocs she bought and wore all the time for her love of all things “Cars” and Lightning McQueen.

“No matter what she was doing, whether it be 4-H, FFA, softball, working, etc., she did it with her whole heart and was determined to do the best she could at it. She never settled for second best,” said Schlachter.

One of the things Jessie excelled with was animals.

Jessie loved working with her cattle, pigs, sheep and Cruz the dog, and she couldn’t contain her excitement when she came home from a sale with more animals. “She was the animal whisperer,” said Rebecca.

In addition to livestock projects, Jessie competed in cooking and leathercraft through 4-H at the Phillips County Fair. She also served on officer teams for 4-H and FFA.

“She was extremely reliable,” said Strecker. “She was the first to show up and the last to leave.”

Jessie was on the FFA vet science team this year, but she had already mastered the topic several years ago when she tagged along with older sister Rebecca, who participated in the same event. “Anywhere Rebecca went, she was there,” said Strecker.

“She was like my little shadow, my little right hand,” said Rebecca, who will be turning 22 soon. “We had a lot of laughs together.”

Jessie thought it’d be a good idea to get a tiny house for her and her sister so that they could still live together when Rebecca went off to college. “The scary thing is she would have figured out a way to do it!” said Randy.

If she wanted to do something, she found a way to do it, he said, noting she was extremely driven and independent.

Strecker said that when she met Jessie, who was in fifth grade at the time, Jessie said she wanted to be a welder when she grew up.

“She’s always wanted to weld and weld and weld,” said Joan, noting she even taught younger students when Strecker was gone for maternity leave.

Jessie also had a knack for making wood Adirondack chairs. Strecker remembered the time that Jessie put in hours of  work at home on her own time to finish some chairs for a benefit auction for Bryan Kroeger when school was suddenly unable to meet in person during the pandemic.

That started the mass production of chairs, said Strecker, adding that Jessie was even working on a kid-sized chair for one of her many little friends. It wasn’t easy to cut down the dimensions, but Jessie was determined.

The Holyoke High School sophomore will be missed at school, softball and other sports teams, the First Christian Church, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, 4-H, FFA and the nursing home.

Her classmates are brainstorming ways to honor her memory, and friends and family marked the crash site with flowers, stuffed farm animals, softballs, “Cars” items and more.