PASSINGS

Jim Owens

Ex-coach of Huskies

Jim Owens, 82, an All-American end at the University of Oklahoma under legendary football coach Bud Wilkinson who later coached the University of Washington for 18 seasons, died Saturday at his home in Bigfork, Mont. The University of Washington confirmed his death but did not specify the cause.

Owens coached at Washington from 1957 until his retirement in 1974. He went 99-82-6 in his nearly two decades as coach of the Huskies, including three Rose Bowl trips. The first, in 1960, was Washington’s first victory in the Rose Bowl, a 44-8 rout of Wisconsin. The Huskies came back to win the 1961 Rose Bowl, 17-7, over Minnesota, then lost in 1964 to Illinois, 17-7.

Owens also served as Washington’s athletic director from 1960 to 1969. His accomplishments were honored in 2003 when the university dedicated a statue of Owens outside one of the entrances to Husky Stadium. But that honor came with protests about his treatment of black players during his time at Washington.

“To my players, I thank them and apologize for any hurt they may feel. I hope today we can begin to heal the wounds of the past,” Owens said the day his statue was dedicated.

An Oklahoma City native, Owens served in the Naval Air Corps during World War II. He was a four-year letterman at Oklahoma after the war, and in 1949, his senior season, was team captain and the leading receiver on a Sooner team that went 11-0 with Darrell Royal at quarterback.

Ownes played one year with the Baltimore Colts in the National Football League, then became an assistant coach under Paul “Bear” Bryant at Kentucky and Texas A&M in the 1950s before being named head coach at Washington.

Richard E. Jacobs Ex- Cleveland Indians owner Richard E. Jacobs, 83, the former owner of the Cleveland Indians and a commercial real estate developer, died Friday after a lengthy illness, according to his real estate firm. No other details were immediately released.

Jacobs and his brother David bought the Indians from the Steve O’Neill estate in late 1986 for $40 million. David Jacobs died in 1992.

Dick Jacobs focused on restoring the struggling American League franchise’s profitability and making it competitive on the field.

The team’s new ballpark in downtown Cleveland became Jacobs Field when it opened in 1994, and the Indians made it to the World Series in 1995 and 1997. Jacobs owned the club until selling to the Dolan family in 2001.

The park was renamed Progressive Field last year after Jacobs’ naming rights deal ended and Progressive Corp. bought the rights.

Jacobs was chairman and chief executive of the Richard E. Jacobs Group, a firm in the Cleveland suburb of Westlake that he founded with his late brother David and Dominic Visconsi in 1955.

The company developed the 57-story Key Center in 1991 at Cleveland’s Public Square, the tallest building between New York and Chicago. The Jacobs Group is a national developer of shopping centers, office buildings, mixed-use developments and hotels.

Jacobs was born June 16, 1925, in Akron, Ohio. He served in the Army during World War II and graduated from Indiana University before going into business with his brother.

Shih Kien

Veteran actor in Hong Kong

Shih Kien, 96, a veteran Hong Kong actor who played Bruce Lee’s archrival in the 1973 film “Enter the Dragon,” died of kidney failure Wednesday at a Hong Kong hospital, according to news reports.

Shih made his film debut in 1940 and went on to act in about 350 films, most notably playing villains in films about Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hong, according to the Ming Pao Daily News.

Sometimes credited as Kien Shih, he was best known to Western audiences for playing the evil martial arts expert Han in “Enter the Dragon.” In the film, Lee’s character is hired by a foreign government to infiltrate Han’s island and seeks to avenge his sister’s death by Han’s bodyguard.

-- times staff and wire reports news.obits@latimes.com