A memorial service for John Owen, longtime Seattle Post-Intelligencer sports editor/columnist and food essayist, will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at the Edmonds Unitarian Universalist Church, 8109 224th St. SW.

Owen chronicled with wit and insight Seattle’s sports growth from minor league to major league market in a Seattle newspaper career that began in the 1950s and lasted until his retirement in 1993. Hired by legendary Seattle columnist Royal Brougham, Owen wrote six columns a week and ran the sports department from 1968 to 1980.

Along the way he shared with readers a passion beyond journalism — cooking. For 35 years, he was the “Intermediate Eater,” a weekly column in which he provided more than 3,400 recipes served with a dollop of light-hearted banter nearly as tasty as his meals.  His seven recipe books, many celebrating Puget Sound’s bounty, sold nearly 40,000 copies.

Owen, 85, died of heart failure Oct. 3.