William Craft Owen

July 11, 1929 - December 13, 2020

William Craft Owen of Arlington, Virginia, passed away on December 13th, 2020 at the age of 91. Bill was born July 11, 1929 into a Navy family and moved frequently during childhood, but viewed Arlington as home. He graduated in 1946 from Augusta Military Academy in Fort Defiance, Virginia, where he was Battalion Adjutant. He attended George Washington University and began a career in journalism as a reporter with International News Service in Washington, D.C. After Army service as a reporter for Stars and Stripes in Korea and Japan from 1951 to 1953, he worked as a reporter and editor with the Associated Press in Washington, D.C. and later in Birmingham, Alabama. He became a copy editor and news editor at The Birmingham News, where he worked for more than twenty-five years before his retirement in 1996. After the 2003 death of his wife of 44 years, Shirley H. Owen, he lived in San Francisco before moving to Arlington in 2013. He was passionate about photography, language, science fiction, astrophysics, his family, and his cats. He is survived by his daughter Diane S. Owen, of Alexandria, Virginia; sister Rita E. Owen, of Raritan, New Jersey; and nieces and nephews Clint Owen, Sheri Elderfield, Traci Ford, Greg Owen, Robert Owen, and Michael Owen, and their spouses and children. He was preceded in death by his brother, Robert C. Owen, of Wilmington, North Carolina. A memorial will be scheduled by the family at a later date. For memorial gifts, the family suggests two charities: Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation Reading is Fundamental of Northern Virginia