Babette Margarete Owens

(February 24, 1951 – February 2, 2026)

Everyone called her Oma—German for grandmother—and she lived up to the name with fierce, unwavering love.

Born Babette Margarete Harpointner in Ansbach, Germany, on February 24, 1951, to Karl and Margarete Harpointner, she lost her mother at birth. Raised by her grandparents, Friedrich and Margarete Hager, on a farm and guarded by a loyal German Shepherd, she later trained to become a nurse at a convent where she lived until her 18th birthday. She then moved to Nuremberg, attended school, worked in a hospital, met and married her first husband, and gave birth to her son Thomas. After that relationship ended, she raised Thomas as a single mother.

She later met an American soldier stationed in Germany and became pregnant with her second son, Michael, who was born in Wrightstown, New Jersey, after she emigrated to the United States in 1978. She gave birth to her third son, Jesse, and the family settled first in Wrightstown, then Browns Mills.

After that relationship ended, Oma found herself raising three boys as a single mother in a new country, speaking broken English, with no clear path ahead. Yet she pressed forward working as an LPN, cleaning houses, attending community college, and becoming a proud U.S. citizen, one of the greatest joys of her life.

She was then hired by the State of New Jersey as a Corrections Officer at Garden State Youth Correctional Facility, where she worked for 25 years with unmatched dedication and earned respect from everyone. This role brought financial stability and allowed her to purchase her first home in Willingboro.

She later bought her final home by the water in Burlington City, a place she called “her little heaven,” where she finished raising her sons and became a beloved grandmother.

Life tested her deeply when her son Jesse became ill with cancer and passed away in 2014. Yet Oma picked up the pieces. Together with her best friend Debbie Lutz—also a corrections officer—they shared the responsibility of raising Jesse’s three children: Maria, Mikayla, and Mason. Maria and Mikayla went to live with Oma, where she embraced them with the same nurturing strength she had always given. Mason went to live with Debbie, where he remains today.

Maria and Mikayla now thrive in college on full scholarships and serve as a living testament to Oma’s incredible will, dedication, and pride in them. She was extremely proud of her granddaughters.

Oma was deeply devoted to God and believed in a higher power. Her favorite color was purple, and she loved cooking authentic German food such as Kartoffelklöße (potato dumplings), goulash, spaetzle and Christmas cookies. She kept a spotless home.

Her best friend, Debbie Lutz, met her in corrections officer training and became like a sister to her. Debbie remained by her side until the very end, a closeness reflected in their shared commitment to Jesse’s children.

In July 2025, Oma looked forward to attending Thomas and Kaitlyn’s wedding in November and was excited about renewing her passport to visit her brother Helmut in Germany, reconnecting with him only a few years earlier. Yet when she became ill and was hospitalized in September, she deliberately withheld the details of her diagnosis and condition from Thomas so she would not burden him or overshadow the joy of the wedding. Even in serious illness, she put others first.

After her diagnosis was confirmed terminal, Oma chose to pass peacefully and with dignity in her home—her “little heaven”—not wanting to be a burden to anyone. Always thinking of others, even to the very end.

She passed away peacefully at her home on February 2, 2026, with her granddaughters Maria and Mikayla by her side. This mirrored a heartbreaking symmetry: just as her son Jesse had passed away in her arms in 2014, she now left this world with his daughters holding her close.

Oma was the beloved mother of Thomas Harpointner and his wife Kaitlyn, Michael Owens, and the late Jesse Owens; grandmother to Thomas’ son Nick, Jesse’s children: Maria, Mikayla, and Mason, and Michael’s children: Khalil, Donavan, and Austin; sister of Helmut Harpointner; cherished friend to many, and a public servant to her state and country.

She was predeceased by her parents Karl and Margarete Harpointner, her grandparents Friedrich and Margarete Hager who raised her, and her son Jesse.

A Celebration of Her Life will be held Monday, February 9, 2026, with visitation from 9–11 a.m. at Sweeney Funeral Home, 478 Cooper Street, Beverly, NJ 08010, followed by an 11 a.m. service filled with stories and memories. Interment will follow at Oddfellows Cemetery, Burlington, with the New Jersey Honor Guard present to honor her service.

Flowers may be sent to Sweeney Funeral Home, 478 Cooper Street, Beverly, NJ 08010.