Robert Ralph Owens

Published January 6, 2026 - 12:04 p.m.

Robert Ralph Owens, age 92, of West Chester died Thursday, January 1, 2026, at 4:48 p.m. with his sons by his side in Aultman Compassionate Care Center in Jackson Township, Canton where he had been a patient for a couple days.

He was born on May 20, 1933, at home in West Chester; a son of the late Jacob Ralph Owens and Margaret Ethel Hastings Owens.

Bob was a 1951 graduate of Freeport High School and attended Ohio State for a short time before being drafted into the US Army and was stationed in Alaska. He was honorably discharged and went to work in in Fairmont, West Virginia for a couple years, then moved back to West Chester to spend the rest of his life farming on the family farm. He also worked for thirty plus years for ALSCO Anaconda in Gnadenhutten where he retired as a plant superintendent when they closed.

He was a member of the Tuscarawas County Farm Bureau.

Surviving is his wife of sixty 62 years, Letty D. Thorne Owens. They were married February 23, 1963, in Scio.

Also surviving are three children: Shawn Owens, Rodney (Margaret) Owens and Chad Owens; three sisters: Janice Overholt, Karen Wemer, and Audrey Carson; eight grandchildren: Trisha, Adam, Garry, Letty Lynn, Nick, Katelyn, Jacob, and Cooper; and several great-grandchildren.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a daughter, Tammy L. Rotruck in 2023 and a sister, Mary Waugh in 2025.

Visitation was held in Koch Funeral Home, 216 S High Street, Freeport on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. A funeral service was at 2:00 p.m. in the funeral home. Burial followed in Greenmont Union Cemetery, 77101 Freeport Tippecanoe Road, Freeport.

Online condolences may be made on the funeral home’s website. www.kochfuneralhome.net

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