Cecil Owen

Cecil "Zeke" Edwin Owen, age 87, of Viroqua passed away March 2, 2015 at the Bland Bekkedal Center for Hospice Care in Viroqua, Wisconsin. Zeke was born in Viroqua, Wisconsin, on June 30, 1927, to Barney J. and Gazelda (Campbell) Owen. He was baptized at the Methodist Church and later became a baptized believer at the Church of Christ in Viroqua by Roy Williams. At Viroqua High School he excelled in sports, lettering for four years in football, boxing, basketball and baseball. Upon graduation in 1945, he enlisted in the United States Navy and was on the U.S.S. Cascade AD-16 when it harbored at Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan three months after the bombings. On the return trip to the U.S., the ship encountered what was then the largest tidal wave in Hawaiis history. He came through the Panama Canal and docked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was discharged before returning to Viroqua. On June 20, 1948, Zeke was united in marriage to Anna Grace Best at the Church of Christ by Roy Williams. He was a carpenter, painter and wallpaper hanger for forty-two years and took great pride in his work. His family enjoys the many pieces of furniture he made for them. After retirement, he did much of the staining and finishing of doors and woodwork at the Church of Christ, where for many years he was a deacon and trustee. He enjoyed the many years of traveling by car to all forty-eight contiguous states and going to his cabin on Potato Lake to fish. Cecil is survived by his wife, Anna Grace, daughter Cecilia "Celie" Riederer and her husband Steven, of Yorkville, Illinois, a very special grandson Tyler Owen Riederer, a Junior at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a sister Margaret of San Antonio, Texas. Cecil was preceded in death by his father and mother, his brothers Roland, Leon and Kenneth, and his sister Doris. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, March 5, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. at the Viroqua Church of Christ. Pastor Jeff Coon will officiate with burial in the Viroqua Cemetery. Friends may call at the church on Thursday after 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers or plants, memorials may be given to the Church of Christ or the Bland Bekkedal Hospice Center. Online condolences may be offered at www.vossfh.com The Vosseteig-Larson Funeral Home of Viroqua is serving the family.