Verlee Ann Peterson Owens

Verlee Ann Peterson Owens

Verlee Owens, a resident of Sioux City, Iowa passed away at the Good Samaritan Home in Le Mars, Iowa on November 15, 2025. Verlee was an honest and transparent person, but she had a disdain for people asking her age. Out of respect to her lifelong commitment to retain mystery as to her birth year, her age will not be noted here, but you can do the math below (she didn’t care much for math either).

Verlee Owens was a wife, mother, teacher, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend, Christ follower, and social justice advocate. Verlee was ahead of her time; she never stopped challenging the limits society placed on women. Verlee lived out Jesus’ word, spending a large part of her life serving her community through volunteerism and activism. Verlee especially felt called to help those people historically oppressed by systems of power. One of her primary missions was to be of service to women who were victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. Verlee was vocal right to the end of her life about the inhuman and anti-Christian policies and rhetoric of our current Federal and State leaders. Despite Verlee’s strong opinions about how society should treat people, she always listened to those who disagreed with her. Verlee Owens lived her faith not only by her actions, but also through her compassion for those who did not share her views.

Verlee Ann Peterson was born June 10, 1937, in Scottsbluff, NE to A.G “Pete” Peterson and Anna (Sellers) Peterson. Verlee was named after her aunt (Vera) and uncle (Lee). Her early years of life and her first school experiences took place in Hay Springs, a town in Northwest Nebraska. At the age of 7 Verlee moved to Northeastern Nebraska with her family where her father was the Superintendent of the Plainview School District. Verlee was a proud Plainview Pirate and graduated in 1955. Verlee enjoyed music, drama, and speech activities in high school.

After high school Verlee received what was called “normal training”, which allowed her to start teaching in a rural school setting right out of high school. Her first year of teaching was in a one-room schoolhouse; this was a far different environment to the one she had experienced as a student, and she often shared that this initial year offered a very challenging start to her career. She would save enough money teaching rural school each year so that she could afford attending an academic year of college. Her first year of undergraduate schooling was at the University of South Dakota. She later transferred to Chadron State for her second year when her parents moved to Mitchell, NE. After an academic year at Chadron State, she taught school in Gordon, NE. During this time, she took night college classes and summer school until she was able to earn a BA in Education.

Family and Career

Verlee first met Richard “Dick” Owens in 1960 on the Chadron State campus. They were both summer school students. A Chadron tradition was to produce a play and tryouts were open to both students and staff. Both Dick and Verlee tried out for “You Can’t Take It With You”. As a foretelling of what was to be their future, Dick and Verlee were cast as Mr. and Mrs. Kirby. Life followed art and there appeared to be an opinion that the casting had been a positive one.

Richard and Verlee were married May 31,1961 in Mitchell, NE. Verlee taught in Thomas County High School (Thedford) for a year and Dick continued as administrator and teacher. They eventually moved to Valentine, NE the next year. Their first child, Laurie was born in 1962 and twin boys Matthew and Michael followed in 1963. Michael passed away just 11 days after birth at a hospital in Omaha, NE. The next move was to O’Neill where Verlee was a school librarian and Dick was both a counselor and a teacher. Eventually Dick received a grant to begin work on his doctorate at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. During this time, they lived in Ashland, NE where Verlee was a librarian and taught geography.

Following the doctoral academic years they moved to Bedford, IA where Dick was a school psychologist and Verlee was a part-time substitute teacher. They later moved to Creston, IA where Dick was employed as a special education coordinator at the local community college. The next move was to Sioux City, IA and Morningside College. Darrell came to live with the Owens family during this time. Their youngest child, Jonathan, was born in Sioux City, Iowa in 1974. After moving to Sioux City, Verlee was hired as a Special Education teacher in the Sioux City Community Schools. Her first classroom was at Riverside Junior High, then she moved to West High School. While teaching in Sioux City, Verlee completed her master’s degree at the University of South Dakota.

The majority of Verlee’s teaching career was spent at West High, Verlee loved being a Wolverine. Verlee prided herself on helping students, often those with learning disabilities, find success. Verlee’s students graduated, but they never left her heart – she loved to tell stories of how well former students were doing and all the obstacles they had to overcome. Verlee also loved that many of her students were considered by other educators as the most “challenging” at school. Challenging or not, all students found a home in Mrs. Owens’ room. Verlee treated all her students with respect and kindness and never judged them by their prior notoriety, or the opinions of previous teachers. As kind as Verlee was, she did not tolerate students disrespecting others or speaking negatively about themselves. Verlee believed that all students could learn and had potential, and she never gave up on her students – often proofreading resumes and counseling them well beyond their time at West. Verlee also prided herself on not missing days of school, she felt being out of the classroom was not serving her students. Verlee saw West High School not just as a great place to teach, but a diverse community that she loved being a part of – so much so that she sent all her own kids there. Verlee did an incredible job of being there for her own kids during their years sharing a campus, but also allowed them to chart their own path as Wolverines.

Verlee was active in the Sioux City Teacher’s Association and believed that unions were integral to an equitable society. Verlee served as President of the teachers’ union during many difficult times for the Sioux City schools. Verlee was always committed to her students and her fellow educators, always seeking understanding with administration and the district office – but she was also quite proud of her efforts, along with her peers, during Superintendent Sally Bell’s reign of disaster. Verlee attended multiple National Education Association conventions and truly cherished her role serving her peers in education. Verlee retired in 1999 after 34 years of teaching. Verlee also was selected as the West High Homecoming Parade Marshall for her years of service to the school.

Volunteerism and Activism

Verlee had a lifelong interest and passion for political action. She was active with organizations like the National Organization for Women and assisted with organizing for the Equal Rights Amendment. She never missed an Iowa Caucus season, she often would go hear candidates speak that she didn’t even find interest in supporting because she loved the experience. She also got her kids involved, she felt it was important that they see and meet political leaders whenever possible, no matter the party affiliation. Verlee’s most favorite experience was meeting future President Barak Obama during the 2008 Iowa Caucus and proudly displayed her signed copy of his book.

In the 1980’s Verlee became a volunteer for the Council on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. For over three decades Verlee would be “on call” and go out at all times of the night to pick up women who were escaping violence. This volunteer work put Verlee in difficult and potentially dangerous situations, but she never shied away from helping those in need.

In 2020, Women Aware of Siouxland recognized Verlee as one of their “Women of Excellence.” Verlee was given the Marilyn Murphy Lifetime Achievement Award which recognizes “one who

has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to advocating for women, their families, and/or their community.” Due to the Covid Pandemic, she was unable to be recognized at the planned gala but was individually recognized in 2021. Verlee received the Murphy Lifetime Achievement award for contributions to the community as a 30+ year volunteer with the Council on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, as a Sioux City Community School teacher, her church fellowship, Association for Learning Disabilities of Iowa, and Retired Educators.

Verlee also served on the Learning Disabilities Association of Iowa board, was active in Sioux City Retired Educators, and volunteered with IRIS, (radio reading service) on KWITT. Verlee was also an active member of the First Congregational Church and served numerous roles during her fifty plus years as a member of the congregation.

Family Legacy

Verlee was an amazing wife to Richard Owens for 64 years. The legacy of her husband includes a very long list of incredible things he did to help people, but Richard could not have done those things without his wife Verlee. Verlee was the perfect debate partner who could match wits with Dr. Owens like no one else could. Verlee was incredibly patient with her husband’s social justice goals even though they took him away from his family and required her to double the parenting work. Of note, Richard might have been known as the “Dogfather” due to his inventory of prized hunting dogs, but it was Verlee who went out one day and bought a Doberman Pinscher because she had always wanted one, solidifying the breed as the only dog that actually got to live in the house. Verlee was fiercely independent and had her own goals and Richard cherished this about her (he really didn’t have a choice). Verlee and Richard were both independently amazing people who collaborated on an exemplary example of what a loving marriage should be.

As a mother, Verlee loved her children unconditionally. Maybe because of her experience as a teacher or by some superhuman power, but Verlee had an uncanny ability to know what her kids needed or what they were up to even if they went to great lengths to hide those activities. There was not much she didn’t “catch” but she was also quick to provide helpful advice or forgiveness. Verlee took the time with each of her kids based on what they needed. She truly loved all her kids for who they were as individuals. As a mother she was a role model to all of her children, she raised an incredibly independent and successful daughter and two sons that valued strong women.

Verlee was a voracious reader and gifted writer. During summer months Verlee would often read a book a day. She loved to read everything from the classics to whatever book was trending and she had a passion for encouraging others to find the love of reading. Verlee’s mastery of the English language and all the rules that go with it made her the ideal person to read any sort of written assignment. Her skills also meant that if you emailed her or even texted with the wrong form of a word, she might include corrections in her reply. Verlee also wrote a lot, she was the family historian, but also vivid stories about the daily life she experienced during her youth. Sadly, Verlee never attempted to have her own written works published and the world missed out on getting to enjoy her stories.

Verlee considered herself a “soft touch,” never missing an opportunity to spoil her eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren: Alex Vinkavich of Alameda, CA; Ben Vinkavich of Omaha, NE; Kyle Owens of Charlotte, NC; Hannah Owens of Brookings, SD; Olivia Owens of Watertown, SD; and Jack, Mitchell, and Cora Owens of San Diego, CA. Great-grandchildren, Alexis, daughter of Alex and Jess Vinkavich, and Henry, son of Ben and Michaella Vinkavich.

Survivors Verlee Owens is survived by her daughter Laurie Vinkavich-Cole and her husband Bob Cole of Hawaii; sons Darrell Crabtree of Sioux City, and Jonathan David Owens of San Diego, CA; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Preceded in Death Verlee was preceded in death by her husband Dr. Richard Owens, sons Michael Benjamin Owens (infant) and Dr. Matthew Peter Owens, her parents, A.G “Pete” and Anna (Sellers) Peterson; and sister Janet (Peterson) Mitchell.

Memorials

As a living tribute in recognition of those causes that Verlee championed, the family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to: SafePlace (P.O. Box 1565, Sioux City, IA 51102-1565), Learning Disabilities Association of Iowa (P.O. Box 122, Winterset, IA 50273), or the ARC of Woodbury County (6000 Gordon Dr., Sioux City, IA 51106).

Celebration of Life Services

A Celebration of Life for Verlee Owens and Richard Owens will be held in the spring of 2026.