Harrison Michael Owens, 12th June 1994, born a gorgeous blonde haired boy. He was a cute, cheeky little one who made a great addition to his family. His mum and dad were thrilled when he arrived. Although his sister Grace always wanted a sister it didn’t take her long to start enjoying her brother’s company. From an early age Harrison showed his love for diggers, tractors, dressing up and guns. Harrison went to Chalkwell Infant and Junior school, before moving to St Thomas Moore Senior School and Sixth Form, where he met many of his lifelong best friends. At the age of 17, Harrison tried to join the Royal Navy, without his parents consent. This didn’t land well when Sam and Mick found out. Instead, they encouraged him to get a trade, then reapply. Harrison did just that, he excelled in Havering College Plumbing School, winning Apprentice of the Year, and after being a plumber for 7 years the time came for H to follow his dream and apply for the Royal Marines. The training and dedication H had to this was incredible, at 22 he was making his dream happen. Over 18 months of training H passed PMRC to be accepted to attempt basic training. On 26th February 2018 H got on the train to Exeter and started 32 weeks of training. After a long 36 weeks and a slight blip with Sepsis he completed final ex and passed out as a Royal Marine on 23rd November 2018. Harrison proposed to Jasmin, the week after pass out. He said if they can get through that 36 weeks as strong as they did, they can get through anything, and he wasn’t wrong. Jasmin and H went on to get married on 7th December 2019, at St Augustines Church, Thorpe Bay. A very special day. Unfortunately COVID hit shortly after so they spent a lot of time apart. H and Jasmin bought their first home in Blyth Avenue, Shoeburyness in August 2020. H and Jasmin soon got cracking on doing up their house, to make it a home. Whilst H wasn’t home a lot he would spend the 24 hours he had each weekend putting in hard graft to get as much done as he possibly could, building a new staircase and tiling the hallway floor on Christmas Day. Not long after moving into their home they found out they were pregnant with their daughter, Kennedy Blair Owens. H spent a lot of time away from home in 2021 but managed to be home in time for Kennedy’s turbulent arrival on 19th June 2021. What joy she bought to everyones life. H was an outstanding husband and strength to Jasmin during labour and birth, and she couldn’t have got through that without him. H became an amazing Dad to Kennedy instantly and looked after both Jasmin, and Kennedy incredibly well. They went on to get Kennedy christened, by Father Chris in April 2021. Later that April they went on their first family holiday to Crete where they made such fond memories, that Jasmin and Kennedy will cherish forever. H & Jasmin had a beautiful celebration for Kennedy’s first birthday before Harrison was first diagnosed with cancer. The road after that was painful and tiresome for Harrison, but he found strength from places he didn’t realise he had. Harrison fought with such bravery and should be an inspiration to many. He suffered in silence a huge amount and never wanted anyone to treat him differently or feel sorry for him. One of H’s last wishes was to renew their wedding vows, which Father Chris made possible on 29th June 2023. This meant so much to Harrison. H made some good memories over the past 14 months, and although times were incredibly tough for H he was still smiling and being cheeky in his last few days.
H excelled at all sports growing up, from cricket, rugby, sailing, windsurfing, skiing, to boxing, ju jitsu and even yoga over the more recent years. H spent as much time on the water as he possibly could and was part of Thames Estuary Yacht Club where he sailed his Dart 16.
At the age of 4 Harrison played Rugby at Westcliff RFC, he was a key member of the team for 10 years and went on to win the Essex cup with them. H started skiing at the age of 5, he was a natural, he was confident and went on to win a lot of competitions. He then continued his ski passion through his military career when he joined the Navy ski team and went to the Ski champs in 2020 which he loved. In some recent notes I found on Harrison’s phone he summed up his time in the Navy Ski Champs as an unbelievable opportunity, and planned his next occasion where he wanted to make podium. H was a brilliant ski teacher to many of those around him and had the patience of a saint, especially when it came to teaching Jasmin. No matter how many times she sat on her bum and refused to go down the slopes he made her feel confident enough to get back up and be guided down with him. Harrison was a fluent French speaker after spending a few weeks at French summer school when he was 16, this only improved as the years went on. The time had spent with Harrison in France was made much easier and impressed Jasmin very much. He was very keen to teach Kennedy this skill and wanted to bring her up with French as a second language.
Harrison started boxing with his coach, and friend ID to build his fitness levels prior to joining the Marines, and in October 2017 he took part in his first real fight. Although his boxing took a side step when he was away he really enjoyed coming back and spending time back in the ring when he could. H also had a huge love for film and music, James Bond was often on, and Jasmin couldn’t tell you how many times she had to watch Dead Pool. You never knew what music was going to start playing when he got in the shower, Paul Potts? Country? Heavy metal? The Royal Marine Band or Usher.
Harrison joined 3rd Chalkwell Bay Sea Scouts in 2005, progressing through the Group as a Scout, Patrol Leader and Explorer, taking on a role as a Sea Scout leader when he was old enough along with helping run activities on the water in Old Leigh. He approached all that he did with the Sea Scouts with enthusiasm and determination. When he joined the Royal Marines in 2018, despite the demands placed upon his time he still returned to Old Leigh when operational commitments allowed to support the Sea Scouts. Most notably he performed a key role in delivering the funeral of his much-loved leader Ian, who only weeks before had attended his passing out parade at RM Lympstone. It was clear for anyone to see that Harrison was always very proud of his ties to Scouting and 3rd Chalkwell Bay Sea Scouts in particular, he continued to inspire and be a role model for so many young people.
From the age of 5, H found his love of cars which became a reality when he passed his driving test first time at 17 and had use of the family Fiesta. Month by month this Fiesta would have new additions, a sub woofer, a roll cage, a DVD player, new engine after the original blew up, Ken block wheels and a full custom paint job. H was a trend setter when it came to cars and was king of the hand brake turn. H would race around the Garrison in his Fiesta with his friends on their scooters – as he passed before most of them. This car was a dream of H’s which he loved driving and drag racing at Santa Pod. H loved track days, go karting and has spent a LOT of time at car shows. After H blew up the Fiesta engine him and his friend decided to purchase a yellow Honda Civic in 2012 which was pretty much held together with duct tape, cable ties and a tesco carrier bag – but that’s how H learnt how to fix things properly. H then went on to buy his Nissan 350z in 2015, this was a car he had wanted for years, and I can remember how excited he was when we went and picked it up. This did him well over the years driving back and fourth to Exeter, Plymouth and Poole and even more recently when he was modifying it to increase the power of it. Whilst H was unwell he decided to start a new race car project and so bought a blue Fiesta ST to take apart and make into a dream race car that was FIA approved and have endless track days in, display it at car shows and take veterans out for a spin in it. However, the blue Fiesta was apparently too nice to take apart so he kept that as another every day car and bought another black Fiesta. This was a great distraction for H over the last 6 months where he would spend anytime he had out of hospital working on it – even in the snow. Although H hadn’t managed to see the end product he had recently seen the roll cage and seam welding complete. It would always make Jasmin laugh when she met H, and learnt that him and the boys would much rather spend their Saturday evenings at the Clean Park cleaning cars, rather than the pub. But that’s what made him happy, spending time with his friends and cars. Harrisons love of Formula 1 and motorsport was more than anyone Jasmin has known, it was always on the TV, no matter how much Kennedy would ask to watch CBeebies she never won. H has somehow influenced Kennedy so much that all she does it talk about racing cars and spots every Fiesta she sees, she touches it and says ‘Daddys car’. Harrisons friends and family will continue to instil H’s love of cars in Kennedy.
Harrison had such an emotional connection to the military and really did make this dream come true. H made strong connections with his colleagues and they soon became his second family. The bond that H had with many Marines was one I could never describe, they are like brothers. H always wore his uniform with such pride. H moved from Exeter to Plymouth before he pursued his career down in Poole in 2021. Life was made when he got this role – he said it was a dream job he never knew existed and although he hadn’t spent much time in this role before he fell ill he loved every minute of it and only ever dreamed of getting back into work one day. Harrison gave so much to the military, and is very grateful to have accomplished all he had and for every experience he had with the Royal Marines. Military life was tricky for H sometimes as he would spend a lot of time away from home and would spend lots of time travelling back and forth to home. But H always made such huge efforts to show his commitment to his work as well as his commitment to his friends and family back home.
H was fortunate to have travelled to some wonderful countries when he was younger with his parents and sister. He especially liked South Africa, Cuba and of course all the ski holidays in France. Harrison’s love for Cuba continued when he persuaded Jasmin to make it their summer holiday in 2017. H taught Jasmin the ropes of drinking rum and it soon became one of Jasmin’s favourite drinks. H loved everything about Cuba and always dreamed of going back one day. H and Jasmin had a few fun trips to Amsterdam and even honeymooned there – the cheesy chips were a must have everyday. H loved sun holidays too but would always ensure there was watersports available – or a snorkel and googles so he could pretend to be ‘Scuba Steve’.
Harrison’s friends meant everything to him, and my goodness was he grateful to have them all in his life. He couldn’t have been more appreciative of everything they have experienced with him, as well as all they did for him especially when he fell ill. Nothing was ever too much hassle for Harrison’s best friends and he always felt so guilty he couldn’t do more himself. He never wanted to put anyone out. Harrison had a passion for cooking for family and friends, and hosting parties and evenings at H’s house, most of the time until the early hours of the morning. Everyone would be laughing for hours and hours on end. H’s friends would always bring out his infectious laugh. These special moments bought him so much joy.
Harrison and Jasmin accomplished so much together, that a lot of people at 29 wouldn’t have experienced. They had their fair share of romantic picnics on boats, mainly when it rained, some amazing holidays, brilliant trips with friends, so much time spent with their families. They bought their beautiful home, got engaged and married and had a beautiful little girl. Harrison and Jasmin were recently saying how complete they felt their life was and couldn’t be prouder of everything they have achieved. They both worked hard in their careers to make all of this possible. Although Harrison’s life was cut incredibly short they were both so happy with everything in their lives and were grateful for that.
H & Jasmin’s wedding was one of their favourite memories together, gathering all their friends and family and cementing their love. In a room of 200 people it felt like it was just them. They shared 9 years together, 3 1/2 married, although they would’ve dreamed for many more years together they were so grateful for all the fun times they had. Kennedy came as a surprise but she is the most amazing little person and H loved her dearly, it seems as though Kennedy was bought into their lives at a time they didn’t know how much they needed her. She was the sole reason for H fighting his battle so hard, and he desperately wanted to see her grow up. H was the best daddy to Kennedy, from his endless love, his patience, his love of doing bath time, tickle back and blow drying Kennedy’s hair. H was a huge part of making Kennedy the well behaved, polite little princess she is, and Jasmin hopes to do H proud and raise her well. K will get kisses and be told memories of her daddy before bedtime every single day. H and Jasmin had many conversations about their parenting style and although they didn’t always agree they always would work together to merge their style. They had always chatted about Kennedy growing up and would look forward to parties as the years go on and especially her 18th birthday where H would’ve loved to have all of Kennedy’s friends round to their house and have their house as the party house so they can be the cool parents who let them have alcohol but in a safe environment. They always joked about trying to be the cool parents that everyone just wanted to be at their house.
Harrison and Jasmin fell in love the very first day they met. They couldn’t love each other anymore, even if they tried. Their love just continued to grow. H made Jasmin the proudest wife through every step of his life, from joining the Marines, his passion for cars, becoming a Daddy and being the most amazing husband, and selfless person, as well as an outstanding son, brother, grandson, uncle, nephew, cousin and friend to so many. When H was told he wasn’t able to make something happen he would prove everyone wrong, H was determined and knew his own goals and did everything he could to achieve them, what a quality to have. H was always modest, and appreciative of everything he has been supported with throughout his life. Jasmin loved Harrison for his encouraging nature, and always wanted to see people do their best and would help where he could to make this possible. In the last few months of Harrison’s life Jasmin heard so many stories of Harrison’s selfless and caring nature, and although she knew herself how amazing H was, it was so heart warming to hear such lovely memories that others have shared with him.
A beloved Husband, Daddy, Son, Brother, Grandson, Nephew, Uncle, Cousin, Friend, Royal Marine.
We will love you and miss you always 💗