Douglas Wayne Owens (May 2, 1937 – December 18, 2002) was an American politician and a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

for

Utah's 2nd congressional district Utah's 2nd congressional district currently serves western Salt Lake City and the largely rural western and southern portions of Utah, including Saint George, Utah, Saint George and Tooele, UT, Tooele. The district is currently represented by R ...

from 1973 to 1975 and again from 1987 to 1993. He was posthumously inducted into the

Hinckley Institute of Politics The Hinckley Institute of Politics is a nonpartisan institute located on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, Utah. Its purpose is "to engage students in transformative experiences and provide political thought leadership" through in ...

hall of Fame.

Early life and education

Born and raised in the small town of Panguitch, Utah, Owens graduated from Panguitch High School in 1955, then attended the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, from which he earned his Bachelor's degree in 1961 and his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 1964. Owens's undergraduate education was interrupted while he served as

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS church) from 1957 to 1960. In France, he met his future wife, Marlene, a fellow missionary for the church. Owens worked his way through college and law school through working various jobs, including being a night-watchman at the Beehive House. He then worked as a lawyer in private practice and as a staffer for three United States Senators, Frank Moss of

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, Robert F. Kennedy of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and Edward M. Kennedy of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. He was the Western states coordinator for the presidential campaigns of Robert Kennedy in 1968 and Edward Kennedy in 1980, and served as a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

in 1968 and 1980.

Career

In 1972, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat by "walking for Congress" throughout the district to meet voters personally. He unseated incumbent Republican Sherman P. Lloyd with 55% of the vote. During that period, he sat on the House Judiciary Committee which voted for the articles of impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon. He ran an unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign against

Jake Garn Edwin Jacob "Jake" Garn (born October 12, 1932) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Utah. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as a member of the United States Senate from 1974 to 1993. Garn ...

in 1974, then served as a

mission president Mission president is a Priesthood (LDS Church), priesthood leadership position in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). A mission president presides over a geographic area known as a Mission (LDS Church), mission and the M ...

of the LDS Canada Montreal Mission from 1975 to 1978, after which he returned to

to practice law. In 1984, Owens lost the Utah gubernatorial race to Republican Norman H. Bangerter, but was re-elected to the House in 1986 and served through 1992, when he ran for the U.S. Senate again. That year, he was defeated by a wider margin than expected by Bob Bennett. Owens was embarrassed that year by his involvement in the so-called

House banking scandal The House banking scandal broke in early 1992, when it was revealed that the US House of Representatives allowed its members to overdraw their House checking accounts without the risk of being penalized by the House bank, which was actually a cle ...

Personal life

On December 18, 2002, Owens suffered a fatal

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, while on a trip to further the cause of Middle East peace. Speaking at the funeral, Gordon B. Hinckley called Owens "a man of achievement" and a peacemaker who desired to make the world better. At the time of his death, he was continuing his efforts to improve the world, heading up the Center for Middle East Peace & Economic Cooperation. "I was with him constantly", Hinckley said. "I learned to appreciate and respect him and honor him. I have followed him ever since." In the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

congressional elections, Wayne Owens's son, Doug Owens, ran for election to

Utah's 4th congressional district Utah's 4th congressional district is a congressional district created by the state legislature as a result of reapportionment by Congress after the 2010 United States census, 2010 census showed population increases in the state relative to other ...

.Another Owens Jumps into Utah Politics
''UtahPolicy.com'', Bob Bernick, January 27, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2019. He was defeated by Republican candidate

Mia Love Ludmya "Mia" Love (née Bourdeau; December 6, 1975 – March 23, 2025) was an American political commentator and politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Utah's 4th congressional district from ...

in both of his runs.

References

External links

*Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–Present
/span> *The Center for Middle East Peace & Economic Cooperation
/span> *
/span> *
/span> * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Owens, Wayne 1937 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Mormon missionaries American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints American Mormon missionaries in Canada Mission presidents (LDS Church) People from Panguitch, Utah Politicians from Salt Lake City University of Utah alumni Utah lawyers Burials at Salt Lake City Cemetery American Mormon missionaries in France Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law alumni Latter Day Saints from Utah 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century Utah politicians 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives