Jeff Owyoung

Jeff Owyoung was born in San Jose, California to Lawrence Owyoung and Mable Suen Owyoung. Around 1968, Jeff and his family relocated to his mother’s hometown of Dermott, Arkansas, where his grandparents ran a grocery store, Y.L. Tow and Company. The store served a wide variety of customers, as Jeff puts it, “we’ve had rich ones, we had poor ones, and we had middle income. It didn’t matter.” In the mid-1970s, Jeff’s parents opened a Chinese restaurant in McGehee, off Highway 65, called Trade Winds. This restaurant became a very popular spot, with authentic Chinese meals and live music every Wednesday night. In addition, there was a bar and a private club. The restaurant expanded to include a bar and a banquet room. After Trade Winds burned down in December 1998, the family decided to permanently close the restaurant. His father then turned his time to volunteering at the Clinton Library.

Jeff attended school in Dermott until his ninth-grade year but was recruited to Montrose Academy on account of his athletic skills. He graduated in 1978 and attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville for one year before transferring to the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He did not like the big city and preferred to come back home to the small town atmosphere, where he could enjoy being part of a closer-knit community. At UAM, he met his wife, Sallie. Jeff was very involved on campus; he joined a fraternity, lettered in football and tennis, and eventually graduated in 1982 with a degree in Psychology. He returned to coach football and basketball for four years at his Alma Mater, Montrose Academy. He veered into the insurance business as an independent agent and from there has built his life in McGehee. He serves on many civic organizations: the board of directors of the McGehee Industrial Foundation, chairman of the Japanese American Internment Camp Museum, and school board president. He also worked to create Owlfest, a local festival with vendors and entertainment.

Jeff has been Mayor of McGehee for over twelve years, striving to improve the city he calls home. He has pushed for many improvements across the city, including tax initiatives, murals, and road improvements, and hopes to update the town’s water system in the future. Jeff values his community and strives every day to leave his community in a better place than he found it. Jeff hopes that people will remember he loves McGehee, loves his community, and strives to improve McGehee where he can.

Story by Tyler Boyd, Alicia Jimenez, Jake Luyet

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