February 16, 2020
February 16, 2020
Happy Birthday, Aunt Connie. I wish I could bring you a little cake and the new robe you never opened. I was planning another trip to Bend this month. I miss our time together. Now you're 88!
This memorial website was created in memory of our loved one, Connie Owens. We will remember her forever!
Constance Louise Thompson was born February 16, 1932 to Boyd Arthur Thompson and Katherine Louise Stevens Thompson in Cresco, Iowa. She was the wife of Frederick Francis Owens and the mother of Lisa Marie and Thomas Frederick. She was sister to Virginia Baudrand and Robert Stevens Thompson and a special aunt to their children.
Her family moved to El Monte, California when Connie was about 10 years old. She attended Columbia Elementary School and graduated from El Monte High School in 1950. She attended Mt. San Antonio College, Secretarial School. Connie worked at the Edison Light Co. after graduating. She lived in Sierra Madre with her roommate, Betty Owens Bromley, who became her sister-in-law. Fred and Connie were married in Las Vegas, April 10, 1959. they lived in West Covina and San Dimas as Lisa and Tom were growing up. Spending holidays, trips to the beach and mountain cabin with the Baudrand family.
The Owens family moved to Bend, Oregon in 1976, where they have lived since. Connie worked for many years at Bend Mill Works. When Connie and Fred retired they bought an RV and traveled living and working at campgrounds around the northwest. A favorite, near their grandsons, Aaron and Kelly, was 1000 Trails Campground near Bend.
After traveling, Connie and Fred moved back to Suntree Village, where they had lived previously. Fred passed away November 2, 2013. Connie continued to enjoy living in her tidy mobile home and having friends and family visit. After many falls and a broken ankle, Connie was moved to Bend Rehabilitation Center. She spent the year wanting to go home. Lisa and niece, Cherie, spent as much time as possible with her as she faded. She died January 29, 2020, just before her 88th birthday.
Constance Louise Thompson was born February 16, 1932 to Boyd Arthur Thompson and Katherine Louise Stevens Thompson in Cresco, Iowa. She was the wife of Frederick Francis Owens and the mother of Lisa Marie and Thomas Frederick. She was sister to Virginia Baudrand and Robert Stevens Thompson and a special aunt to their children.
Her family moved to El Monte, California when Connie was about 10 years old. She attended Columbia Elementary School and graduated from El Monte High School in 1950. She attended Mt. San Antonio College, Secretarial School. Connie worked at the Edison Light Co. after graduating. She lived in Sierra Madre with her roommate, Betty Owens Bromley, who became her sister-in-law. Fred and Connie were married in Las Vegas, April 10, 1959. they lived in West Covina and San Dimas as Lisa and Tom were growing up. Spending holidays, trips to the beach and mountain cabin with the Baudrand family.
The Owens family moved to Bend, Oregon in 1976, where they have lived since. Connie worked for many years at Bend Mill Works. When Connie and Fred retired they bought an RV and traveled living and working at campgrounds around the northwest. A favorite, near their grandsons, Aaron and Kelly, was 1000 Trails Campground near Bend.
After traveling, Connie and Fred moved back to Suntree Village, where they had lived previously. Fred passed away November 2, 2013. Connie continued to enjoy living in her tidy mobile home and having friends and family visit. After many falls and a broken ankle, Connie was moved to Bend Rehabilitation Center. She spent the year wanting to go home. Lisa and niece, Cherie, spent as much time as possible with her as she faded. She died January 29, 2020, just before her 88th birthday.
Tributes
Leave a tribute
February 12, 2020
February 12, 2020
I remember Vacationing with Aunt Connie, it seemed like all the time. Balboa beach, the mountain cabin. Mom and Connie we’re so close they shared all the holidays and daily phone calls. Their family has always been part of lives. Lisa is more of a sister than a cousin. I had a way of always getting in trouble and Connie would be on my side. She had a great sense of humor and she got my smart ass remarks that usually got me in trouble. Miss you and love you
February 10, 2020
February 10, 2020
Our dear Aunt Connie...what a great friendship she and I had. We just liked each other and could joke and tease and be sarcastic and had so much fun whenever we were together. I'm really gonna miss her. She called me Charles when she was getting ready to jab me with one-off her snyde comments.
Connie Lou and I went to visit a couple of years ago and stayed a week with her and we went out a few times to eat and had some fun and one day we decided to go on a drive (in Kelly's car) and look at the mountains.
Somehow we ended up way off the highway on a muddy dirt road that looked like it led somewhere... but we were just way out there nowhere, and it was getting dark.
After about 10 or 12 miles down this washboard I realized it was a really bad decision and pulled over to the side of the road and when I came to a stop I heard this familiar voice from the back seat...
"Charles, are you going to dump me out here on the side of the road? I bet your trying to get rid of me!"
I said, "No, not yet, I might need you to get out and push us out of this ditch if I get stuck in this mud! (Sorry Kelly)
Too many stories to tell, but she made a big impression on me. She was my friend and an enthusiastic cheerleader for my children. She just loved us and we knew it.
And she had a special place in her heart for her namesake Connie Lou. Her life and love lives on in our Coggins hearts forever...
Connie Lou and I went to visit a couple of years ago and stayed a week with her and we went out a few times to eat and had some fun and one day we decided to go on a drive (in Kelly's car) and look at the mountains.
Somehow we ended up way off the highway on a muddy dirt road that looked like it led somewhere... but we were just way out there nowhere, and it was getting dark.
After about 10 or 12 miles down this washboard I realized it was a really bad decision and pulled over to the side of the road and when I came to a stop I heard this familiar voice from the back seat...
"Charles, are you going to dump me out here on the side of the road? I bet your trying to get rid of me!"
I said, "No, not yet, I might need you to get out and push us out of this ditch if I get stuck in this mud! (Sorry Kelly)
Too many stories to tell, but she made a big impression on me. She was my friend and an enthusiastic cheerleader for my children. She just loved us and we knew it.
And she had a special place in her heart for her namesake Connie Lou. Her life and love lives on in our Coggins hearts forever...
February 10, 2020
February 10, 2020
My Aunt Connie. I have so many pictures in my head of the kitchen table her cup of coffee and at one time a cigarette. Because Lisa and I are close in age I think I spent a lot of time together at their home. Connie was a very good home maker always a clean house and yard. One time she told me in one of our many conversations that she loved folding clean clothes out of the dryer. I never liked folding clothes but I decided to think about her love for it and it changed the way I looked at laundry. I looked for the joy of it instead of the duty. Aunt Connie always had a twinkle in her eye, she was thinking of a way to make some one laugh. And as Cherie pointed out she could remember Spanish words and she would just add them into the conversation. Her ability to train a dog was another marvel in my eyes. Tina the collie was amazingly obedient. To me Aunt Connie was stylish always had a great figure and happy. She and mom were such good friends. We as family just shared life together. She is so much of who I am today because of family love and time together growing up. I have always loved being named after her and my Aunt LouAnn. I love you Aunt Connie and I miss your laugh.
February 1, 2020
February 1, 2020
After Dad died in 2016, I started making monthly visits to Bend - a 5-hour drive to visit Aunt Connie. About that time, Connie made the decision not to drive anymore and Robert sold her car for her. She could walk with her walker and liked to get out of the house when I came. It became our tradition to go out and split an order of Sweet and Sour Pork at Chan's the first evening of my visit. She laughed and liked to tell the story: One time I took her in her wheelchair to Chan's it was raining very hard, so I threw her blanket over her head and we raced up the ramp. A year later, she was angry with me at the care center because I told her I was going to get Sweet and Sour Pork for dinner. She thought I was going to take her. I couldn't get her in the car, but I delivered it! We had a little picnic outside, but it wasn't the same. She could no longer stand to transfer to the car. Though she could remember some Spanish, she could not remember that she couldn't stand or walk!
February 1, 2020
February 1, 2020
Did you know Aunt Connie learned some Spanish in high school? She always remembered it. She was excited to meet Pedro and use some of her Spanish. She was still singing and talking to me in Spanish on my last visit in January. Pretty amazing!
February 1, 2020
February 1, 2020
I first met Connie when I was about 10 when my brother introduced me to the Thompson family -- Ginny being his main focus. Connie was a couple years ahead of me in school, and I always admired the fun she had with her close friends (Betty, Janet, and others). Connie always had a great sense of humor and fun, until her body betrayed her. Nature can be a beast sometimes. Connie and Fred lost a son, and Lisa lost her brother. But Lisa has been the best daughter and has sacrificed much of her joy of life while helping her mom try to get better. In these later years, I saw her only at family gatherings, so I missed a lot of fun. I hope Connie is smiling now, as she always did in life. All our family and all her friends will miss her greatly.
Leave a Tribute
Recent Tributes
February 16, 2020
February 16, 2020
Happy Birthday, Aunt Connie. I wish I could bring you a little cake and the new robe you never opened. I was planning another trip to Bend this month. I miss our time together. Now you're 88!
February 12, 2020
February 12, 2020
I remember Vacationing with Aunt Connie, it seemed like all the time. Balboa beach, the mountain cabin. Mom and Connie we’re so close they shared all the holidays and daily phone calls. Their family has always been part of lives. Lisa is more of a sister than a cousin. I had a way of always getting in trouble and Connie would be on my side. She had a great sense of humor and she got my smart ass remarks that usually got me in trouble. Miss you and love you
February 10, 2020
February 10, 2020
Our dear Aunt Connie...what a great friendship she and I had. We just liked each other and could joke and tease and be sarcastic and had so much fun whenever we were together. I'm really gonna miss her. She called me Charles when she was getting ready to jab me with one-off her snyde comments.
Connie Lou and I went to visit a couple of years ago and stayed a week with her and we went out a few times to eat and had some fun and one day we decided to go on a drive (in Kelly's car) and look at the mountains.
Somehow we ended up way off the highway on a muddy dirt road that looked like it led somewhere... but we were just way out there nowhere, and it was getting dark.
After about 10 or 12 miles down this washboard I realized it was a really bad decision and pulled over to the side of the road and when I came to a stop I heard this familiar voice from the back seat...
"Charles, are you going to dump me out here on the side of the road? I bet your trying to get rid of me!"
I said, "No, not yet, I might need you to get out and push us out of this ditch if I get stuck in this mud! (Sorry Kelly)
Too many stories to tell, but she made a big impression on me. She was my friend and an enthusiastic cheerleader for my children. She just loved us and we knew it.
And she had a special place in her heart for her namesake Connie Lou. Her life and love lives on in our Coggins hearts forever...
Connie Lou and I went to visit a couple of years ago and stayed a week with her and we went out a few times to eat and had some fun and one day we decided to go on a drive (in Kelly's car) and look at the mountains.
Somehow we ended up way off the highway on a muddy dirt road that looked like it led somewhere... but we were just way out there nowhere, and it was getting dark.
After about 10 or 12 miles down this washboard I realized it was a really bad decision and pulled over to the side of the road and when I came to a stop I heard this familiar voice from the back seat...
"Charles, are you going to dump me out here on the side of the road? I bet your trying to get rid of me!"
I said, "No, not yet, I might need you to get out and push us out of this ditch if I get stuck in this mud! (Sorry Kelly)
Too many stories to tell, but she made a big impression on me. She was my friend and an enthusiastic cheerleader for my children. She just loved us and we knew it.
And she had a special place in her heart for her namesake Connie Lou. Her life and love lives on in our Coggins hearts forever...
Gallery
My Aunt Connie
Connie and Lisa riding in buggy with Bromley family
Lisa and Connie visiting Cherie & Pedro's new trailer at 1000 Trails 2017
Connie in her favorite chair. 2018
Lisa with parents at her wedding
Uncle Charlie, Jean, Ginny and Connie
Tom Ginny & Connie at Connie & Fred's home
Lunch with Uncle Charlie Iowa 2006
Recent stories
February 16, 2020
My first memory of Aunt Connie, is not this photo and a tricycle. It was my first full size Schwinn bicycle and I was 5 years old. Dad, who was 28, rode me on the handlebars of my new bicycle. We all know that is a "No, no." It went fine until we returned home and hit the little curb at the driveway entrance. I went flying, then sliding, face first up the driveway. I was a mess with facial abrasions. I didn't want to go to school on Monday because I didn't want everyone to ask me what happened. Aunt Connie to the rescue! I got to miss school and go spend the day with her at her little house she shared with Betty in Sierra Madre. We took a walk up the hill to a little store to buy some candy. Guess what the man at the counter asked! I didn't care, I hid behind my Aunt Connie. It was a treat to spend the day with her.
The Times We Spent Together
January 31, 2020
As one of her two grandchildren, I know Aaron and I were one of the best parts of her life. She had this sweater that on the front of it said my grand kids are the keys to my heart and it was 100% true. During the summers growing up one of the highlights I always would look forward to was visiting Grandma and Grandpa at 1000 trails just south of Sunriver, whether it be for just a day of swimming at the pool or to stay there for the week, I always looked forward to it. I spent a lot of time with her growing up as she was the main babysitter whenever Mom and Dad probably needed some deserved respite from the kids, and so I became very attached. When they lived in Redmond for a stint I remember spending almost an entire summer at their home while my parents and brother worked. There, almost every day, I would have cottage cheese with sugar and untoasted bread with butter on it, a Grandma classic, while she would have a glass of basically vinegar, which was disgusting. She was also the one the let me learn how to drive, mostly because she didn’t want to do it and I had my permit, but nonetheless I did the most driving under her tutelage. It was then after I got my license that I gave her a little plastic frog for good luck which sparked a theme that I and she shared for the rest of her life. Every Christmas I would get her some sort of frog-themed gift, one year a frog necklace, another year a frog welcome sign for her garden, and this last year a stuffed animal frog holding a dandelion which I hoped would comfort her as she was stuck in the rehabilitation center. She always was a courageous lady, never afraid to speak her mind or give you this look that just made you want to rethink your whole life. We would always antagonize each other, whether it was me poking fun at her or just kicking her under the table, I know she loved every minute of it. After Grandpa passed, whenever I would go home from doing Navy things I would always go to her house and take her out to lunch to Shari’s, hoping she didn’t know I was home yet so I could surprise her and see the look on her face as I walked through the door. I will always miss our lunch dates. I will always miss you, Grandma. Words will never be able to do you justice, at least now you will be able to go home as you have wanted to for these last several months.