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Owen Nelson Bottomley, 82, born on March 19, 1921 in Blackwell, Oklahoma and a resident of Albuquerque since February 1, 1990, passed away on August 4, 2003. He is survived by his wife, Jean Bottomley of Albuquerque; daughters, Jan Schmitz and husband, Bill Petterson of Albuquerque and Terri Nighswonger and husband, Ben of Livermore, CA; son, Ben Bottomley and wife, Sharon of Albuquerque; 4 grandchildren, April Glasgow, Zakk Bottomley, Robin Johnston and Kim St. Clair; 5 great grandchildren, Taylor Glasgow, Ashley Glasgow, Sage St. Clair, Sophia St. Clair and Conner Johnston; brother, Bob Bottomley and wife, Charlene of Hutchinson, KS and a sister, Patricia Brace and husband, Ralph of Wichita, KS. Owen retired from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and was member of Sandia Presbyterian Church. When he was 18, he played professional baseball. During World War II he enlisted in the Army and later transferred to the Air Force and entered pilot training. On May 16, 1942 Owen was married to Jean Ann Kropp. A daughter, Janice Bottomley was born in November of 1943. In 1944, Owen was sent to England and flew many missions over France and Germany. In 1945, another daughter, Theresa (Terri) Ann Bottomley was born. After the war, Owen became a building contractor in Wichita, Kansas. During this time he bought land and built houses. His family lived in one house while he built the others. Owen would buy a horse, or two, because he loved animals, which were kept on the land for a while. Altogether, he built five houses for his family. One was a modern 50's style house, then a son, Ben Bottomley, was born in 1953. He bought a farm in the southeastern part of Kansas, which was called the flint hills country that still had native prairie grass. During the down times of the housing market, Owen became a fireman for almost four years. We moved to the farm and Owen turned into a rancher, raising Black Angus cattle. Eventually, the land became a half-section, with a herd of 250 cattle, two or three horses and two Airdale dogs. About fifteen years later, Owen sold the ranch, and moved to Colorado Springs. At this time, it was a family of three, the only child at home was Ben and the two daughters were in college or working. In Colorado, Owen went back to work in the construction industry, this time in heavy, industrial building. He worked at NORAD in northern Colorado, walking I-beams, welding, where he became a steelworker. During this time, he also became a master in concrete work. Always a sports lover, he took up skiing and entered some of the downhill races at Vail, Aspen and other places in the north. At age 62, Owen got his dream job. He became an engineer and worked for the U.S. government. He passed the exams, with a high school education, using his knowledge gained from all those years working in the construction industry. Service will be held on Thursday at 11:00 a.m. at Sandia Presbyterian Church, 10704 Paseo del Norte NW with Reverend Dewey Johnson, officiating. Burial will be at Santa Fe National Cemetery at 3:00 p.m. Friends may visit on Thursday from 10:00 until time of service. French Mortuary 9300 Golf Course Rd. 505-897-0300
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