Halain E. Owens of Montague, N.J., passed away April 14, 2025, at home. She was 81 years old.
Primarily a homemaker devoted to caring for her family and raising her children, Halain was a lifelong reader of mystery fiction with a preference for signal figures associated with the genre, particularly Agatha Christie, P.D. James and Martha Grimes.
Halain also had a deep knowledge of gardening practices and tended, from 1984 through to the present, her own garden populated with lilies, poppies, a wide variety of roses, columbines, which she favored for their enduring fragility and delicate beauty, as well as a wide array of perennial flowers, fruits and vegetables.
Through the mid-1990s Halain attended Sussex County Community College and later the County College of Morris, and worked for several years in various medical offices as a certified laboratory technician.
The daughter of William and Helen (Bloomfield) Ward, she was born Sept. 23, 1943, in New Brunswick, N.J.
Halain married William Owens on May 15, 1971, in Iselin, N.J.
Halain leaves behind her daughter Christina Owens; her sons William Owens Jr., Robert Owens and Richard Owens; and her grandchildren Rosemarie, Genevieve and Caedon.
She was predeceased by her husband of 51 years, William Owens Sr.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held 1 p.m. on Friday, May 16, at St. James the Greater Roman Catholic Church, 75 River Road, Montague, with the Rev. Wayne Varga officiating.
Modest donations may be made in her memory to the non-profit gardening initiative Big Green, which brings gardens and gardening practices to schools and urban communities: https://biggreen.org/ Big Green | Growing Food Changes Lives
Arrangements by Stroyan Funeral Home, 405 West Harford St., Milford, Pa (www.stroyanfuneralhome.com).