Ann Owen passed away Monday September 25, 2017 in Vancouver at the age of 80 after a long illness. She is survived by her two children, Russell and Melody, and her two grandchildren, Krysten and Justine.

Ann Owen was born in Essex, England on Christmas Eve, 1936 to George Walter Chandler and Florence Maud Chandler (nee Giles). As a small child, her family moved to London, and she lived there during the Blitz. She used to tell a story of playing out in the street in front of the house, resisting her mother's insistence that she play in the back yard. Shortly after moving, a huge paving stone thrown up by a bomb landed where she had been playing. There are some questionable aspects to this story, but as a cautionary tale about listening to your mother, it has real strength.


She studied early childhood education. Her mentor, Beatrix Tudor-Hart, worked at Beacon Hill with Bertrand Russell and later started an alternative school in Muswell Hill called Fortis Green. After the war, Ann worked at Fortis Green, and she would often go to Hyde Park to listen to Bertrand Russell speak at the Ban the Bomb rallies.

In 1961 she married Donald Owen, who worked as a fireman. They had a son, Russell Norman Owen, a few years later. Unfortunately, her husband died on the job, leaving her with an infant and a broken heart. She left for Canada shortly afterwards and lived with her sister-in-law’s family at Base Borden in Ontario. She later remarried and had a daughter, Melody Ann Owen.

In the late 80s, she moved to Guelph, where she worked with Waterloo/Wellington Women in Crisis. At the age of 60, she graduated from the University of Guelph with a degree in sociology. At the ceremony, Lincoln Alexander, the chancellor of the University and former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, was so surprised to see her he exclaimed, "What have we here!" and halted the proceedings so they could have a chat. She spent the last decade of her life creating safe spaces and programs to help women who were experiencing violence in their lives.

As her health started to fail, she moved to Vancouver to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren. During her final years, she lived steps from a place she loved, Kitsilano Beach.