Owen, ex-adviser to NC Gov. Jim Hunt, dies at 77

PITTSBORO, N.C. (AP) – A top policy adviser to then-North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt during his first two terms in the Executive Mansion has died.

The Hall-Wynne Funeral Service & Crematory of Pittsboro confirmed Betty Owen died Friday of natural causes at a hospital in Little River, S.C. Funeral manager Art Sellars said Monday that Owen had taken ill in Calabash while vacationing.

Owen was a Kentucky native who’d taught in the public schools. She was Hunt’s senior policy adviser from 1977 to 1985, often representing Hunt before the Legislature. She later was appointed executive director of the Emerging Issues Forum at North Carolina State University, where she planned events featuring national government and business leaders.

Survivors include her husband, two sons and four grandchildren. A reception is scheduled Saturday for the funeral home.

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