Barbara L. (Perry) Owen of 600 Commerce Drive died peacefully with family by her side on Nov. 25.

She was born in Lynn on Nov. 6, 1921, a daughter of the late Anthony F. Perry and Eva (Holden) Perry. During her junior and senior years, she led the Blue Devils Marching Band. Her high-stepping, strutting style became familiar throughout the state and earned her the name “Leominster’s Sweetheart.” Every football game played at Doyle Field began with the petite little fireball charging across the gridiron, leading the blue-and-white band. Her athleticism and charisma helped earn the band high praise and invitations to perform throughout the state.

During this time, she met and fell in love with the man she would spend the rest of her life with. Charles E. Owen was a star running back and excellent sprinter for the Leominster Blue Devils. The drum majorette and the football star made for a great love story, and it didn’t take long for the courtship to blossom.

Mr. Owen came from a family of outdoorsmen, and it was natural for him to introduce his wife to hunting and fishing. In fact, she learned to handle a rifle so well that she could hit bottles tossed into the air. The ability paid dividends on the second day of Massachusetts’ hunting season in 1940. With Mr. Owen at her side, she knocked down a running deer with one shot to fill her tag. An article and photo of Mrs. Owen and her deer were featured in the Leominster Enterprise.

Charles and Barbara L. Owen were married on March 1, 1941. Their years together provided many unusual and exciting experiences. In 1948, they sold their home and moved to a hunting camp with their two young boys. With no running water, an outhouse and only a wood stove for cooking, the couple spent the next 12 years turning a one-room camp into a five-room home with heat and indoor plumbing.

Throughout the years, they moved many times, and each move presented new and exciting challenges. In the mid-’60s, they owned horses, and the Owens taught themselves how to compete at horse shows. They both won awards and titles and participated in parades throughout the state.

In the early ‘70s, they sold their home in Shirley, bought an RV and headed to the East Coast. Mrs. Owen kept a log of their travels -- from Nova Scotia all the way to Carrabelle, Fla. -- in a small notebook, and while sitting on the beach in Florida, they couple realized they’d finally found their home. They sold the RV and bought a home that overlooked the Gulf of Mexico. From there, they sat most evenings to watch the lights of shrimp boats working in the bay. And during daylight, they launched their boat from their dock and fished for trout in the warm water.

Their remaining years were spent making new memories and recalling old ones. They lived long enough to dance at two of their granddaughters’ weddings and celebrate the births of 11 great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Owen loved to read and write poetry. In fact, she was quite proud that one of her poems was printed in a book for new poets.

On Dec. 28, 2006, she lost the only man she ever loved, and, soon after, she left the tiny Florida fishing village and moved to Scarborough, Maine. Mrs. Owen spent the last 11 months of her life close to her family. She made close friendships with her neighbors and the staff of Scarborough Terrace, an assisted-living community. She often claimed, “This is my home, and I’ve got the best view in the place.” She looked forward to bingo games and conversations over lunch and dinner, during which she told the stories of her many adventures with Charlie and her two boys.

Surviving her are two sons, Wayne Owen and his wife, Doris, of Scarborough, Maine, and Dennis Owen and his wife, Pamela, of Leominster; a sister, Ruth McCaffrey of Leominster; five grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Her ashes will be dispersed off the coast of Maine.

Joseph A. Smith, 86, died at home in Burlingame, CA on Saturday, June 23, after an illness.

He was born in Leominster on Feb. 26, 1921, to George W. Smith Sr. and Beatrice E. (Smith) Smith.

During World War II he served in the Navy as an Aviation Machinist’s Mate at Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii.

He was a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge. He enjoyed golf and piloting a plane from the Fitchburg-Leominster Airport. Photography was his lifelong hobby.

In 1961, he moved to California where he was an aviation machinist for United Airlines at San Francisco Airport. In 1970, he was disabled by a stroke, but was able to travel, enjoy painting and playing the organ with his left hand, and belonged to a cribbage club until he suffered a second stroke in 2003, which caused him to lose his sight.

He leaves his wife of 44 years, Bessie (Davis) Smith; three sisters, Norma Schofield and Pauline Caisse of Leominster and Helen DuPont of Putnam, Conn.; and many nieces and nephews. Two brothers, Durward Smith of Leominster and George Smith Jr. of Melbourne Beach, Fla. predeceased him.

He was a member of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church, Belmont, Calif., where his funeral was held on June 27. A Military burial followed at the Skylawn Memorial Park, San Mateo, Calif.