Aug 31, 2024 By Paul Paterra 4 min read

Edward A. Owens was Uniontown’s biggest fan.

Even though he had a career that took him all over the map, it was his hometown that he held dear and discussed frequently in the column he penned for many years in the Herald-Standard.

Owens, known professionally as Al Owens, died Thursday at the age of 75 following an illness. “He totally loves Uniontown,” said Terry Owens, his wife of 14 years. “He spent his life promoting Uniontown and the wonderful football and basketball teams from the ’60s. It meant the world to him. He did a lot for Uniontown, and Uniontown did a lot for him.”

Terry Owens said her husband lived a fascinating life that included a 50-year career in journalism in radio, television and newspapers throughout the country and also a stint in the U.S. Air Force.

“He even won a few Emmys along the way,” she said of the 1966 Uniontown Area High School graduate, whom she met through Match.com.

“He was dynamic, just really creative,” Terry Owens said. “He was intelligent. There are a lot of words to use to describe him, but dynamic is probably the best one.”

His globe-trotting career began at a radio station Wellsboro in 1972, followed by a move a year-and-a-half later to a station in Lewiston.

Owens then landed a job as an on-air announcer at WCVI AM in Connellsville in November 1973 and stayed there until February 1975. That’s when he took a job at a television station in Steubenville, Ohio, as a general assignment reporter and anchor. Television jobs followed in Charleston, W.Va.; Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio; Milwaukee, Wisc., and Phoenix, Ariz., where he worked as a movie critic before being hired at “Entertainment Tonight” in August 1984.

Owens remained with the program until May 1987 as a general assignment reporter and on-air entertainment editor.

“He enjoyed his time on “Entertainment Tonight,” his wife said. “He probably interviewed anybody who did anything in music or cinema in the (1980s).”

A couple of Owens’ favorites were jazz musicians Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock.

“I think his first interview was with Miles Davis, and he enjoyed that very much,” Terry Owens said. “They all hung out at a bar called Nucleus Nuance out there in Los Angeles. I know those were big times for him. He’s just done everything and knew everybody at that time.”

After that came television jobs in Wichita, Kan., and Seattle/Spokane, Wash.

“Every place he was, that was one of my vacation spots,” said Ben Wright, who was a friend of Owens since junior high school. “We traveled all over the United States together.”

He eventually returned to his hometown, writing newspaper columns for the Herald-Standard. “Al Owens’ column will leave a void on Monday’s opinion page,” said Liz Rogers, executive editor of the Herald-Standard and Observer-Reporter. “Without fail, his weekly observations on politics, society and life growing up in Uniontown were delivered with humor, wit and a touch of sarcasm, whether or not you shared his philosophy.”

Wright called his friend a “touchstone” for people.

“He was multifaceted,” Wright said. “He was an avid Red Raider fan. He could tell you who scored how many points in any game you asked him about. He was just amazing. He was an historian with regards to Uniontown, especially the East End. He was into politics and didn’t mind voicing his opinion.”

Owens also taught computer classes for Fayette County Community Action, East End United Community Center and Connellsville Area High School, and worked in commercial and video production and computer technology and website design.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Freyvogel Slater Funeral Directors in Bethel Park. He and his wife moved to Bethel Park about a year ago.

Terry Owens knows her husband will be missed.

“He leaves a big hole,” Terry Owens said. “A huge hole.”

“Someone put something online about his passing and before you know it there were hundreds of hits,” Wright added. “He is absolutely going to be missed.”