JOHN OWNBY: FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS!

by Debra Saxon

I first met John and Pam Ownby during our initial trip on the Alaska Train in June 2018. I often encounter people who make me feel warm and fuzzy, and John was certainly one of those individuals. He was a quiet man, but whenever he spoke, I made sure to listen.

During our wilderness tour in Denali National Park, John and I began discussing his children and their family travels. He shared that every time his family went on a trip, he would create "artwork" to capture their experiences. With a laugh, he mentioned that his artwork consisted of stick figures, which I found intriguing.

After we returned to Dallas, John offered to send me a few stick figure pictures from our Alaska trip. When the drawings arrived, I was pleasantly surprised at how easily I could understand the stories he was telling through his art.

From that moment on, whenever the Ownbys traveled with us, we published John’s depictions of our adventures in the following issue of Celebration magazine.

Sadly, we lost John just before we set off on our 14-day Norwegian voyage. The pain of his absence was still fresh when I walked up to greet one of our fellow guests on the cruise. There was June Kiley, drawing and coloring in her notebook. I asked her what she was doing, and she told me that she recreates her travels through her drawings. Instantly, I was reminded of John Ownby.

I told her about John and his artwork, and we discussed the possibility of publishing her drawings in Celebration magazine. It felt as though John was there, passing the torch to another member of the Celebration family so that our readers could continue to enjoy our travels through art.

John, you started something here my friend. We will miss you, and promise to take care of Pam when we see her.