Obituary of Owen S. Garrison

Owen Garrison Jr. age 95 of Upper Deerfield passed away Sunday, April 11th surrounded by his loving family. He was on Hospice care. He was born in Bridgeton, the son of the late Owen Garrison Sr. and Hannah ( Brandriff ) Garrison. He was predeceased by his brother Walter. He was a member of the class of 1945 of Bridgeton High School where he was a member of the football team. Owen left school at the age of 17 and enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving during World War II. After being honorably discharged from the Navy he returned to civilian life. Owen and Florence married in 1954 and started a family. Then in 1957 moved to Upper Deerfield Township, where they built a home. When the children were young the family enjoyed camping. They visited many National Parks and places of interest. For many years Owen was an enthusiastic metal detector. He found many interesting items. On several occasions he researched and returned class rings to people who had lost them. Many people looked forward to reading Owen’ s contributions to the BEN column for many years. For many years Owen worked in sales at the Sears stores in Bridgeton and Salem before opening a Montgomery Ward Franchise store in Bridgeton. Owen was always interested in law enforcement. For a time he worked in security. Then he had an opportunity to work part time as a special officer for Upper Deerfield Township. Owen became a full time officer for the township. He attended Burlington County police Academy .He was appointed to the position of lieutenant and then chief of the township police department, where he served almost 20 years until the department was closed in 1986. He was a volunteer of the Upper Deerfield Township Ambulance Squad for many years and was given a life time membership. After leaving the police department, Owen worked security at several Casinos for about 12 years. Owen was a member of Friendship Finley United Methodist Church for over 60 years. During that time he served as Trustee and participated in many church functions. He was a member of Brearly Lodge # 2 in Bridgeton for 72 years. Owen was also a member of Tall Cedars of Lebanon and the American Legion Shoemaker Post # 95. Owen attended the Over 55 meetings at Deerfield UMC where he shared information and safety tips with seniors. He participated in the local AARP organization and served as president for several of those years. For 10 years he was a volunteer instructor for the Safe Driving Course. During the last 17 years Owen has been an active member and volunteer at the Millville Army Airfield Museum. He acted as a tour guide using this opportunity to tell his true stories about his experiences while serving in the Navy during World War II. Owen was videoed many times telling his story. Several of these have been placed in The Library of Congress and at least one is available at the Millville museum. One of his special stories was about a storm that damaged a Navy fleet. Owen was assigned to the USS Monteray. The Monteray was in Pearl Harbor until its first offensive in the Pacific at Makin Islands. Owen served under Admiral William Halsey who commanded the 3rd fleet. Lt. Gerald Ford was his division officer. The fleet encountered a huge storm which became known as Halsey’s Typhoon. Many ships, planes and 800 men were lost. Owen was a survivor of Halsey’s Typhoon. The Monteray went on to participate in 13 successful missions in the Pacific. One of Owen’s favorite things was representing the museum to the public. Owen visited many organizations and events telling his story. Some of his fondest memories came from when he visited students in schools. He was always impressed with their attention and interesting questions for him. He served as Grand Marshall for several holiday parades. He helped train new people who wanted to volunteer at the museum as tour guides. A special wish that Owen had was to attend the commissioning of the carrier named after Gerald Ford. Through the efforts of many people from the museum arrangements were made for Owen and Florence to attend this event in July 2017. This became a highlight of his memories. Owen is survived by his wife of 66 years Florence, daughter Carol, daughter Florence Edna and her son Nicholas ( Ginger ), and son Owen 3rd and his daughters Stephanie and Jamie, and son Steven and three great-grandchildren Louis Jacob, Kevin Michael and Isaiah Owen. He is also survived by several nieces and nephews. The family would like to thank those aides and health care workers who provided such wonderful care for Owen during the last several months. A special thank you to Bayada Hospice Care for their support and assistance during his final days. Funeral services will be held at the PADGETT FUNERAL HOME, 1107 State Highway 77, Upper Deerfield Township on Saturday, April 17th at 11:00 AM. A walk through visitation will be held from 10:00 to 11:00 AM prior to the services. Interment will take place at Friendship Finley Methodist Cemetery in Upper Deerfield Township. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Millville Army Airfield Museum , 1 Leddon Street , Millville Airport, Millville, N.J. 08332 or Bethany Grace Community Church, 31 North Pearl Street, Bridgeton, N.J. 08302. Due to current regulations associated with the Covid-19 healthcare situation, we are limited to 75 people within the funeral home at a time and the understanding and cooperation of the public is greatly appreciated. Written condolences can be sent to the family through the funeral home website at www.padgettfuneralhomes.com.