Cincinnati health leader, Dr. O’dell Owens will be laid to rest next Friday, according to his family. Owens died unexpectedly on Wednesday, Nov. 24.His funeral is set for Friday, Dec. 2, there will be a public visitation and wake from 10 a.m. – Noon, followed by a memorial service. The service will take place at Corinthian Baptist Church in Bond Hill. The longtime public servant is remembered by many as a trailblazer and community giant. He made a career of public service. Among many prominent positions he held over the years, he served as Hamilton County coroner, president of Cincinnati State and medical director of the Cincinnati Health Department.Owens was a pioneer in medicine. He established the University of Cincinnati’s in vitro fertilization program and achieved Cincinnati’s first successful conception and delivery, as well as the first pregnancy from a frozen embryo.Owens graduated from Woodward High School. Proving some of his teachers wrong, he went on to graduate college, obtain a master’s degree from Yale University and complete a reproductive endocrinology fellowship at Harvard Medical School.”In the ninth grade, I was told by a college counselor after flunking out of Walnut Hills that I was too poor and too dumb to go to college,” Owens told WLWT in 2021. “No one should put you in a box. No one should write you off.”Tributes from community and city leaders poured out, praising Dr. Owens for his commitment to helping the Cincinnati community. Owens also served as the president and CEO of Interact for Health for more than four years before retiring.The organization released a statement about Owens passing on Wednesday afternoon.”Dr. Owens took care of our community from cradle to grave. He was a trailblazer, a leader, a friend and a mentor to many. During his four and a half years at Interact for Health, Dr. Owens worked to improve access to health care via school-based health centers, reduce tobacco use, address the opioid epidemic and improve health equity in the region. His contributions to the foundation were part of a long career to improve health in Greater Cincinnati. He will be deeply missed, and his legacy will continue to inspire work for years to come.”In August of last year, a mural of Dr. Owens was dedicated at the CET building in the West End.
Cincinnati health leader, Dr. O’dell Owens will be laid to rest next Friday, according to his family.
Owens died unexpectedly on Wednesday, Nov. 24.
His funeral is set for Friday, Dec. 2, there will be a public visitation and wake from 10 a.m. – Noon, followed by a memorial service.
The service will take place at Corinthian Baptist Church in Bond Hill.
The longtime public servant is remembered by many as a trailblazer and community giant. He made a career of public service. Among many prominent positions he held over the years, he served as Hamilton County coroner, president of Cincinnati State and medical director of the Cincinnati Health Department.
Owens was a pioneer in medicine. He established the University of Cincinnati’s in vitro fertilization program and achieved Cincinnati’s first successful conception and delivery, as well as the first pregnancy from a frozen embryo.
Owens graduated from Woodward High School. Proving some of his teachers wrong, he went on to graduate college, obtain a master’s degree from Yale University and complete a reproductive endocrinology fellowship at Harvard Medical School.
“In the ninth grade, I was told by a college counselor after flunking out of Walnut Hills that I was too poor and too dumb to go to college,” Owens told WLWT in 2021. “No one should put you in a box. No one should write you off.”
Tributes from community and city leaders poured out, praising Dr. Owens for his commitment to helping the Cincinnati community.
Owens also served as the president and CEO of Interact for Health for more than four years before retiring.
The organization released a statement about Owens passing on Wednesday afternoon.
“Dr. Owens took care of our community from cradle to grave. He was a trailblazer, a leader, a friend and a mentor to many. During his four and a half years at Interact for Health, Dr. Owens worked to improve access to health care via school-based health centers, reduce tobacco use, address the opioid epidemic and improve health equity in the region. His contributions to the foundation were part of a long career to improve health in Greater Cincinnati. He will be deeply missed, and his legacy will continue to inspire work for years to come.”
In August of last year, a mural of Dr. Owens was dedicated at the CET building in the West End.
