Norwich — For the past four years, Jacqueline Owens has been hinting — or warning — her Norwich NAACP branch members that she soon planned to step down as president, but they didn't believe her.

They can believe it now.

In December, Owens will retire after serving 30 years as president of the branch she grew from few members — “If we had six people at a meeting, we thought we had a lot” — to national prominence.

The Norwich NAACP branch has earned nine national NAACP Thalheimer Awards for outstanding achievement since 2007.

Dozens of local youths also have come home with top awards in the national Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) competitions.

When Owens took the reins, no one from the branch even attended regional or national NAACP events, she said.

Owens launched events that have become mainstays in the city's calendar: the January Martin Luther King Jr. Day march and luncheon, Juneteenth and the sold-out Sweet Potato Festival.

She guided teens in establishing the Robertsine Duncan Youth Council, named for Owens' close friend.

Owens, who turned 79 last week, has slowed down some in recent years.

She no longer sits in Superior Court monitoring treatment of minorities. She stopped mentoring in school when her beloved Greeneville School closed several years ago in budget cuts.

"After 30 years, it's time for younger people to take over," Owens said. "I found that they were relying on me to do much of the work. ... They say it's a retirement, but really I'm just stepping down."

Owens has never lived in Norwich, having grown up in a small town in Iowa and later Milwaukee.

She married and moved to southeastern Connecticut in 1961, when her husband worked for the Naval Underwater Sound Laboratory in New London. Owens has lived in Lebanon for decades and attends the Trinity Mission Baptist Church in New London.

Yet the petite woman with a soft voice and powerful presence has the ear of city leaders.

The Kelly Middle School auditorium is named for her, and she attends many events there. In 2005, she was the inaugural recipient of the city's humanitarian award, called the Rose Collection.

She rarely misses a Norwich Board of Education meeting, although she seldom addresses the board.

“I feel her support in the room,” Superintendent Abby Dolliver said.

Norwich Free Academy has supported NAACP events and youth members for years, Owens said, offering free space for student events and the annual Martin Luther King luncheon.

She also appreciates how teachers push students to succeed.

NFA Diversity Director Leo Butler said students plan to honor Owens at an upcoming spring student program.

She quite possibly will end up volunteering at the event.

Butler said Owens always offers to help. At the Haitian Flag Day celebration two years ago, Butler was short-handed. He looked up from the podium to find Owens “with her sleeves rolled up, handing out snacks and water bottles.”

“When I think of Jackie, I think of youth,” Butler said.

NFA 11th-grader Junior Dufort, 17, and senior Angeline Deslandes, 18, first met Owens as Kelly Middle School students in 2009 at the auditorium dedication ceremony.

They recalled thinking “who is this woman and why are they naming the auditorium for her?” They would soon find out.

Dufort and Deslandes entered the ACT-SO competition, and Owens served as mentor, adviser, tutor and cheerleader. 

She wouldn't let Dufort slack off on practicing his singing and drumming. A retired computer specialist, Owens guided Deslandes in creating her entrepreneurial business model entry.

Dufort competed in the ACT-SO national finals in Philadelphia last year, and though he didn't win, he felt like a champion.

“Making her feel so proud of me was just the best feeling,” he said. “It made everything worth it.”

Owens hopes to bring several winners of last week's local competition to the national competition in July in Cincinnati. Owens will usher the competitors through the event, ensuring they take it all in while enjoying themselves.

“When we went to Philadelphia last year, literally everything had a schedule,” ACT-SO poetry contestant Jarvis Delisme, 17, said. “She was making sure we saw all the performances.”

Owens said she will remain active with local youths, but is undecided whether she will remain on the Norwich branch executive committee. She wants to make sure others take over the workload.

Apart from running local events, Owens wants to make sure the strong relations she nurtured over the years with Norwich police hold firm.

In the early '80s, relations between minorities and city police were strained. Owens said people distrusted police and thought of them as power-wielding bullies.

Owens called police and arranged discussions about officer training and community relations. She and former Police Chief Richard Abele became close allies and friends.

The department improved training, hired more minority officers and ensured that police didn't just come to a neighborhood for crimes.

That relationship continues with current Chief Louis Fusaro and Deputy Chief Patrick Daley.

When rioting and cries of police discrimination hit the streets in Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore, the Norwich NAACP and Norwich police held two forums to explain police duties and hear residents' concerns.

Few attended the forums, and Daley hopes that indicates trust and good relations in Norwich. He credited Owens.

“I thoroughly enjoy working with her,” Daley said. “We work together to ensure things are working. There were a lot of issues in the early '80s, and she was pivotal in not allowing that to happen. If there's an issue going on in town, she's calling me or the chief or we'll call her.”

“I could call them anytime,” Owens agreed. “Chief Abele, Chief Fusaro. I can call anytime day or night, even at 11 o'clock at night if there's a problem, and they would answer.”

Shiela Hayes, longtime NAACP member and Owens' predecessor as branch president in 1986-87, said the branch will use the same process that elected and re-elected Owens to select her successor.

A nominating committee will present a proposed slate of officers in October. Others can be nominated from the floor.

Elections will be in November, and the new president will take office Dec. 15.

Another NAACP branch committee is planning a retirement celebration for Owens, she said.

Hayes has accompanied Owens throughout her tenure, working on events and issues.

In January 2009, the two traveled to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the first African-American president.

With help arranged through the office of U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, local Homeland Security staff escorted Owens and Hayes to a prime viewing spot — in the second row behind only VIPs at the public barricades.

“That was the first time I really saw Jackie crying, for sheer joy,” Hayes recalled. “The tears were just flowing and flowing.”

c.bessette@theday.com