Mrs. Emma Louise Owens

Emma Louise Owens was born to Virginia and Charles Shepard in Suffolk, Virginia. Her family relocated to Brooklyn, New York when she was a young girl. She attended P.S. 35 and Girls High School before becoming one of the first African-American women to attend Hunter College.

Mrs. Owens held various positions throughout her years of employment. During World War II, she supported the war effort by working as a government machinist at Brooklyn Technical High School and singing with a jazz band to entertain local troops on leave. During that time she met and married the Honorable Thaddeus E. Owens, Sr. (Judge of the Supreme Court, deceased). Their union produced four children: Thaddeus, Jr., David, Michele, and Priscilla.

Mrs. Owens became active in various PTA organizations. She often lent her considerable musical talent to fundraisers for her children’s schools. Her sense of community led her to serve for many years as an inspector for the Board of Elections. She also participated in the campaigns of several local elected officials including Thaddeus Owens, Sr., Woodrow Lewis, Mary Pinkett, and the Honorable Anna V. Jefferson, the first African-American woman elected to the State Senate.

Throughout the years, Mrs Owens continued to express the musical gift she displayed from the age of 5, when she would perform in programs for local churches in Suffolk. She enjoyed formal classical training with such notables as Alexander Gatewood, Edward Boatner, and Louvinia Pointer. As a teenager, she performed on stage and in radio broadcasts with the National Youth Association Chorus under the direction of Mrs. Pointer. Mrs. Owens appeared in several recitals, concerts, and local musical productions as a lyric and, later, mezzo-soprano. She sang a variety of repertoire including arias, Lieder, cantatas, oratorios, spirituals, and African-American art songs. She reunited in later years with Founder/Director Louvinia Pointer as one of the original members of the Great Day Chorale, dedicated to the preservation of the Negro Spiritual.

Mrs. Owens continued to work with an eye toward helping her community. She became an employee of the judicial system, working at the Brooklyn Criminal Court and the Manhattan Supreme Court. For twenty years she lent her sense of duty and compassion for her people to the position of Supervisor of the Records Room at Brooklyn’s Family Court. She also had a successful tour of duty as a Senior Clerk 1 assisting the judges of Family Court.

Mrs. Owens has been a faithful member of Berean Missionary Baptist Church for over half a century. She has served Berean throughout the tenure of Dr. Hylton L. James, Dr. Gus Roman, and, at present, Dr. Arlee Griffin. She was one of the first two women to be appointed a Trustee by Dr. Roman. She continues to hold that position. While serving as the president of Berean’s Royal Orchid Club ministry, she supervised a clothing donation program and organized several innovative music programs as fundraisers. She remains a member of the Royal Orchid Club ministry, as well as a member of the Christian Endeavor ministry.

Mrs. Owens continues to show her compassion and dedication through her community work as a member of the Board of Directors for the Crown Heights Service Center. In this position she continues to advocate for after school programs, youth leadership training, Senior Citizens services, drug prevention programs, and services for HIV/AIDS clients. The Crown Heights community is proud to claim Mrs. Emma Louise Owens As one of its own.