By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Former Atmore Mayor Dr. Rodney Owens, a local chiropractor who later taught Agriculture Science classes at Escambia County High School (ECHS), passed away Sunday morning, November 2, after a brief illness.
Owens served as the city’s chief executive from 1996 to 2000, between the first and second Howard Shell administrations. As mayor, he supported historic preservation and the arts, applying for several grants that were eventually awarded.
The former mayor, who graduated from Life Chiropractic College in 1992, ran a clinic on North Main Street and would reportedly walk back and forth from his office to Atmore City Hall to conduct municipal business.
After his term as mayor ended, he created the iron work that still stands on store fronts throughout downtown.
“He welded and installed all the iron work on those buildings downtown, for the balconies and such, after he was mayor,” recalled current Mayor Jim Staff. “He created a different atmosphere for downtown, adding a touch of Mobile and New Orleans.”
That community involvement continued when Owens later became a teacher at ECHS.
“He was a good fellow,” Staff said. “He did a lot of work for the city when he was a teacher.”
Pride of Atmore, which undertook the renovation of the Strand Theatre and the conversion of Atmore Hardware Store to Encore at the Strand, paid tribute to Owens in a September 2023 posting that accompanied a photo on the organization’s Facebook page.
“Thanks to Mayor Rodney Owens (the artist which made the iron art) and who brought historical preservation and definitely arts and culture during his term as Atmore’s Mayor,” the post reads. “Former Mayor Rodney Owens doesn’t get enough credit for setting the stage for the renaissance we now see happening around Atmore.”
Owens is survived by his wife, Donna, and their sons, Jason and Jonathan, along with several local relatives and friends. No obituary had been issued by Tuesday’s press deadline, but a family member said a memorial service would be held later, at a date still to be determined.