Bob Owens (businessman) explained

Sir Bob Owens
Order:22rd Mayor of Tauranga
Term Start:29 October 1968
Term End:25 October 1977
Predecessor:David Mitchell
Successor:Eric Faulkner
Office2:Mayor of Mount Maunganui
Term Start2:1971
Term End2:1974
Predecessor2:Arthur Harris
Successor2:Kelvin O'Hara
Birth Name:Eric Lees Faulkner
Birth Date:26 August 1921
Birth Place:Manchester, Lancashire, England
Spouse:
Ximena Owens
Children:4
Relatives:Mahé Drysdale (grandson)
Rose Keddell (granddaughter)
Education:Manchester Grammar School
Liverpool Technical College
Occupation:Businessman

Sir Robert Arthur Owens (26 August 1921 – 5 September 1999) was a New Zealand businessman and local politician. He served as mayor of both Tauranga and the nearby Mount Maunganui in the Bay of Plenty. He later moved from Mount Maunganui (which has the Port of Tauranga) to Auckland.[1] [2] He was knighted in 1997.

Biography

Owens was born in Manchester and educated at Manchester Grammar School and Liverpool Technical College. He was in the British merchant service from 1937 to 1946 when he arrived in New Zealand. He was chief officer holding a Master Mariner's Certificate and on Royal Navy transport tankers in the Mediterranean from 1942 to 1944.

He started his own shipping and stevedoring business in Tauranga in 1953. The Owens Group expanded into travel and insurance, covered 38 companies, and represented the Mitsui OSK Lines in New Zealand. The Owens Group was taken over by Mainfreight in 1993.

Owens was a Tauranga city councillor from 1962 to 1968, mayor of Tauranga from 1968 to 1977, and mayor of Mount Maunganui Borough from 1971 to 1974 (when he was defeated on the issue of amalgamation with Tauranga, which he favoured). He was on the Bay of Plenty Harbour Board from 1962 to 1988, director of the Port of Tauranga in 1988 and chairman of Air New Zealand from 1981 to 1984.[3]

Personal life

Owens married Constance Joy Walker in Auckland in 1950, and they went on to have four children.[4] [5] Their grandchildren include rower Mahé Drysdale and field hockey player Rose Keddell.[4] The couple later divorced and Owens married Ximena. He died in Auckland on 5 September 1999.[6]

In the 2007 New Year Honours, Owens' first wife, Joy Owens, was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for community service.[7] She died in 2016.[4]

Honours

In the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours, Owens was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to transport industry, local government and community. In the 1997 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to business and the community.[8] In 1996, he was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame.[9]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Lambert, Max . Who's Who in New Zealand . 12 . 1908 . 1991 . Reed . Wellington . 0790001306 . 483 .
  2. Book: Jackson, Desney . Notable New Zealanders: the Pictorial Who's Who . 1979 . Paul Hamlyn . Auckland . 0-86832-020-X .
  3. Alister Taylor. New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa 2001 Edition. New Zealand Who's Who, Aotearoa. Alister Taylor Publishers . 2001 . 1172-9813 . 1018 .
  4. News: Former wife of Sir Bob Owens passes away, aged 91 . John . Cousins . 16 May 2016 . Bay of Plenty Times . 5 November 2021.
  5. Book: Traue . J. E. . Jim Traue . Who's Who in New Zealand . 11th . 1978 . Reed . Wellington . 0-589-01113-8 . 213.
  6. News: Tauranga recalls knight with the common touch . 7 September 1999 . New Zealand Herald . Rosaleen . MacBrayne.
  7. Web site: New Year honours list 2007 . 30 December 2006 . Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet . 5 November 2021.
  8. Web site: Queen's Birthday honours list 1997. 2 June 1997 . Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet . 16 July 2020.
  9. Web site: Past laureates . Business Hall of Fame . 16 February 2023.