(soft music) - I first knew of Dr.

Owens, but I didn't meet him for a while.

He was giving a lecture at a club I belong to.

That was when he was coroner.

I went knowing nothing about him, and I left thinking he was the greatest speaker I had ever witnessed.

And we just became, over the years, the greatest of friends.

- I was Dr.

Owens' personal assistant for 22 years.

He was booked at all the times, and that meant I had to remember everywhere he needed to be.

- We really became close friends when he began working at the station as a volunteer as the chairman of the auction, because for all these many years, I had done the same thing, and he was so enthusiastic.

- The auction volunteers are what make the auction work.

These people are making phone calls, they're going out and retrieving some of the certificates and the prizes, and he inspired that.

We have a saying still at the end of every one of our auction meetings: "Above the goal."

He would always end his meetings with, "Okay, here's the goal for the auction.

We're going to go above that."

And we still use that every day.

- [Barbara] I think that he felt that having a presence on television really expands your world and the number of people you can touch.

- [Donald] You couldn't help but be drawn in by his excitement and his leadership.

- [Barbara] He knew everybody, so if we wanted somebody, he would just pick up the phone and they'd be here.

- [Michelle] He recognized that there are talents in others and that as one person, you cannot do it all.

He could pick up things about other people and then realize how they could be best fit into any aspect of his life, any aspect of philanthropy, any aspect of what he was doing.

- I don't know anybody else who had as many important jobs as he did.

This man could do anything and everything.

- If he could contribute, he would contribute.

Everyone wanted his time.

He made time for everyone.

It didn't matter who it was.

- [Barbara] He was such a big hugger.

He was the kind of guy who loved to hug you, and I loved to hug him back.

And he was just an incredibly sincere person.

- People felt like they knew him never meeting him before because of what they seen of his presence on TV or around town or any role that he had.

But what most people didn't realize is that he really was kind of shy.

And it would take a lot out of him.

He was more introverted than he appeared to be, but he worked on being extroverted so that people could approach him all the time.

Dr.

Owens gave of himself to the community by always being present.

It didn't matter what the issue was at the moment, whether it was educational, whether it was political, controversial, he was there.

He was ready to give his knowledge based upon what he knew, based upon science, based upon history, based upon lived experience.

- Although I only met him a few times, one thing that became apparent is his legacy continues even after he's gone.

The passion, the dedication, the inspiration that he gave the auction just can't be beat.

- It's time to wake up grandma.

- Enabling people to be their best possible person was a great part of his legacy and how he touched people.

And there's never any way to really know how many.

You know, you can't do the statistics, but you can look at your heart and remember his and know that there was a large, very large number.

- He always said he wanted his epitaph to read, "I made a difference."

And I believe Dr.

Owens held up to that in every aspect of his life.

(soft music)