Chris Owen’s funeral took place at Cottingham Church on Friday 4 February.
View video of funeral service
One of Cottingham’s most colourful characters, Chris passed away on 8 January, aged 78, doing what he loved – pottering in the shed and garden of his home at the former Post Office on Church Street, where Chris and Sue moved in 1977. Here, they raised their two children, Oliver and Imogen, and also ran their internationally successful business ‘Museum Casts’.
Chris was an active member of the local community. He served on Cottingham Parish Council, devised the East Carlton Spring Festival through Nene Arts, which he founded, and set up the New Kettering Film Society. Chris regularly used his extensive historical and environmental knowledge to support the villages in many ways, including the development of Cottingham’s Parish Plan and Conservation Area Appraisal, helping to build the case against unwelcome development in the village, and providing fascinating displays for village events, many of which he heralded in with gusto, decked out in his typically flamboyant town crier outfit. And not forgetting, of course, his annual stint as Innkeeper for the village Nativity Walk!
He was on many committees including LEADER, and was instrumental in establishing and finding funding for the Village Shop. He also helped save The Dale for the village and, right up to the end, Chris could be found monitoring the flora in the Dale, including some rare species that are to be found there. The two village signs that Chris designed and produced for the Millennium will serve as a lasting memorial. He has been laid to rest in Cottingham Churchyard, and we will always remember him with a smile.
The family would like to thank everyone for their cards, presents love and good wishes and are so grateful for all their kindnesses.
