Highway sign immortalizes St. Joseph hero Travis Owens
Jan. 5—It's been nearly five years since the last alarm rang out at Fire Station 5 for Travis Owens, a 25-year veteran of the St. Joseph Fire Department who died after fighting a long battle with liver cancer in March 2019.
As time passes and memories fade away, the memory of Owens and the mark he left on St. Joseph and firefighter safety will live on for generations thanks to the passage of House Bill No. 499, which officially designates a two-mile stretch of highway in St. Joseph in Owens' honor.
Drivers making the daily commute along State Highway 6 and Frederick Avenue from the East Hills Shopping Center to North Riverside Road will now know it as the Firefighter Travis Owens Memorial Highway.
"Probably what I remember most about Travis. Travis was a monumental man, both on and off the job," Assistant Fire Chief Jamie McVicker said. "Very devoted family man. Cared for his brothers and sisters on the job here."
"It is very meaningful. I mean, especially the people that knew him," Battalion Chief Mike Wacker said about the memorial highway. "He'd do anything for you if he needed help."
Former St. Joseph mayor and current state senator Bill Falkner — a friend of Owens — was instrumental in getting the bill initiated and assisting Owen's former wife Rachel McGinness through the process.
"Don't let him not being here make his memory go away. I love that." McGinness said. "It was something that I wanted done just to keep people saying his name."
A lifelong St. Joseph resident and 1985 Benton High School graduate, Owens' served in the U.S. Army for more than a decade before dedicating his life to being a firefighter and EMT in St. Joseph. Owens was the recipient of the SJFD Lifesaving Award, something Wacker said he arguably could have received multiple times after heroic actions on the job.
In one instance in 2005, Owens was off duty meeting with Missouri Rep. Sam Graves for union work when the new Triumph Foods facility exploded due to a gas leak, killing one person was injuring 20 others. Owens rushed down to the facility and borrowed some firefighter gear before racing into the fire. He helped firefighters rescue a person who had become trapped.
Over the course of his firefighting career, his focus evolved from battling fires to fighting on behalf of St. Joseph firefighters and their health and livelihoods as president of the local International Association of Firefighters union.
His cancer diagnosis and subsequent calls to prioritize new firefighter safety measures served as a wake-up call that's shape helped the department into what it is today.
"Just this last year, we started a new wellness fitness program that really hones in on taking care of ourselves. What are the major causes of cancer and how can we eliminate that?" McVicker said. "It doesn't have Travis' name on it, but Travis, his name is all over it."
Wacker remembers Owens' fiery and competitive spirit, whether that was playing outfield on the fire department's softball team or coaching his daughter's basketball teams. He was the type of father who'd do anything to make his family smile, from playing Barbie with his daughters Baylor and Keely to shooting hoops with them and his son Jacob.
"I'll never forget ... we were in a tournament playing a team that we knew was good. At the end it came down to me shooting free throws to win the game. And my dad is not a flexible person at all." Baylor Owens, Travis' daughter, said. "I made the game winning free throw and I see him and he does a toe touch on the sidelines and it's just something that will always stick with me and makes me laugh."
She regularly encounters people — both friends and strangers — who stop to tell her a new story of Travis' heroism or compassion. Between new stories and seeing her father's name memorialized, it's an emotional reminder of the impact her father had on so many people's lives.
"It means so much to me and my family," she said. "I drive by it every day on my way to work. It makes me smile every time I see it."
