Owen Stamper

Owen S. Stamper was born on July 3, 1924 in Hendricks County, the youngest of four children of Carlious Ogle Stamper and Anna Laura (Hall) Stamper.  He passed away on February 25 in Springville, TN.

He is survivied by his wife of 67 years, Lucille M. (Parker) Stamper, three daughters – Marcia (David) Routh of Danville, Margie Hildebrand Switzer (Rick) of Springville, TN and Mara Lynn (Dave) Richardson of Paris, TN, eight grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren.

Services will be held at Weaver-Randolph Funeral Home in Danville, IN with calling on Friday, February 28 – 4:00-7:00 p.m. and the funeral will be on Saturday, March 1 at 11:00.  Burial will follow at North Salem, IN.  In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Danville Boy Scout Troup #301 or to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Owen attended school at North Salem and later at Danville.  He graduated from Danville High School in
1942.  He had two brothers, Charles and Carlious Jr., both deceased and one sister, Mary Ellen (Stamper) Emmert Duff, also deceased.

After graduation from high school, Owen enlisted in the U.S. Army in September, 1942.  He was called to active duty in November, 1942 and was in combat with the 11th Armored Division – a part of the Third Army – in Central Europe, the Battle of the Bulge and Ardennes Woods.

After the war, Owen attended Washington State College at Pullman, Washington, Indiana-Purdue Extension in Indianapolis and Rose Polytechnic Institute at Terre Haute.
In the fall of 1946, he began employment at the Hendricks County Rural Electric Membership Cooperative, where his father, C.O. Stamper, was the first manager.  There Owen was employed for over 19 years, working his way up to supervising engineer.

In 1965, he was employed for a short time as a foreman for Wills & Son Construction Company of Pendleton, Indiana overseeing the construction of transmission lines and a substation which supplied electrical power to the locks and dam across the Ohio River at Cannelton.  In June, 1966 Owen went to work for the U.S. Postal Service where he was employed for 22 years.

Owen was active in civic organizations.  In the early 1950s, he was one of the first members of the county’s Ground Observer Corps and helped to build the observation tower on the county property at the east edge of Danville.  He was a member of the Danville Auxiliary Police and the American Legion.  He was active in the Boy Scouts and served as president of the Danville Jaycees in 1953 and was president of the Danville Allied Civic Council in 1954.  He was an active member of the Danville Optimist Club and was instrumental in the sponsoring of the first Danville Optimist Girls’ Softball Team in the summer of 1974.

Owen’s main interest outside of his family and his employment had been helping his father in the operation and maintenance of the Stamper Sound System.  For many years they went to all areas of the county and state to provide sound for church meetings, club meetings, fish fries, horse shows, carnivals, county fairs, school plays and musicals, athletic events and other community activities.

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