Dewayne Gowen

DeWayne Carl Gowen, age 76, beloved husband, dad, brother, grandpa and great grandpa passed away at home July 10, 2024, in Augusta, KS.  He is preceded in death by parents Carl and Frances Gowen along with his adored chihuahua, Mandy.

DeWayne was born in Coffeyville, KS on December 12, 1947.  He graduated from Lenapah High School in 1966. He then went on to earn a certification in auto mechanics from OSU Tech at Okmulgee in 1967. He met his future bride, Mary Burdick-Gowen in the summer of 1966. Their union of 57 years produced three daughters Dana, Tia, and Amy Jo.

DeWayne had a love for American muscle cars.  His 1961 corvette "My 61 Toy" was a large part of his life and his family's lives. DeWayne bought the corvette in 1969 and after little bit of work he began to get his feet wet showing the car at local car shows.  Over the next 40 years, DeWayne had torn the corvette down to the fiberglass restoring it by hand, twice, doing all of the work himself. He went on to enter the corvette in car shows in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and about every small town in between.

DeWayne never met a stranger at a car show. He would stand and talk cars all day long, but he would sure fall asleep during his daughter's rodeos and drill performances! Through his love of cars he made many good friends and acquaintances over the years.

DeWayne instilled his love for American muscle cars into all three of his daughters. Dana and Tia are now corvette owners and Amy owns a Camaro. Together father and daughters have shown their cars at various car shows across Oklahoma and Kansas, all the while making it a fun-loving family competition. Anytime the family would show their cars together you would often hear DeWayne tell anyone that would listen "these are my daughters and those are their cars."  He was enormously proud of his three girls.

DeWayne retired from Sig-Ma Tek, Augusta KS, in 2021 as a machinist for 30+ years.  After retirement, when DeWayne was not cleaning or showing the corvette, he was working in his garden.  If you knew DeWayne, you knew his garden and all of the good vegetables he grew.  If it could be planted, he could grow it.  His daughters heard from neighbors that he would complain each spring that "it was time to plant the garden again," But every year he would always make his garden bigger! It was also questioned, "How does DeWayne grow a garden like that in all of those rocks?"  DeWayne enjoyed sharing his garden produce with all of his family, friends, and neighbors and every year he made sure his daughters had plenty of corn stalks from his corn rows for their fall decorations.

He is survived in life by wife, Mary, of the home; daughter, Dana Henry - husband Shane of Norman, OK; daughter, Tia Wilson - husband Daniel of Wichita, KS; daughter, Amy Jo Graves - husband Luther of Sulphur, OK; grandchildren, Christian, Bailey, Kelby, Cole, Kayden, Mady, and Kollins; great grandchildren, Owen and Oaklynn; sister, Elaine Stevens Gowen - husband Larry of Bartlesville, OK. DeWayne is also leaving behind Bella, his little dog who spent a lot of time on his lap and accompanying him in the garden.

Visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m. with service following at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, July 15, 2024 at Headley Funeral Chapel, Augusta, KS.  Memorial donations may be made to American Cancer Society, P. O. Box 22478 Oklahoma City, OK 73123.