Funeral Service: 10 AM Tuesday March 3, 2015
Location: South Lakes Chapel (at the funeral home)

In Lieu of Flowers please make memorials to Hospice of OK County, 4334 N.W. Expressway Ste 106 OKC, OK 73116

John Osborne was born into a dairy ranching family. After his birth in Wichita Falls, his youth was largely spent in Benbrook, Texas where his father, uncles and grandfather jointly owned a dairy operation. As he grew, he learned how to use heavy equipment. After graduating from high school, John was still too young to enter the military in World War II which had just begun. He worked in construction projects, ultimately helping to build the Hanford Site that housed the first full-scale plutonium production reactor that manufactured the plutonium used in the first atomic explosion at the Trinity Site.

John joined the Army as soon as he came of age and was assigned to an engineer battalion in Patton’s 3rd Army. Entering the European theater during the Battle of the Bulge, he served with honor in the efforts to defeat Nazi forces until victory was achieved in Europe. Shortly after that, he was shipped out to join the forces intended to invade Japan. However, as his ship was three days out of the Panama Canal, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. With the surrender of Imperial Japan, John’s battalion was diverted to the Philippines where it helped build Clark Air Base that became a vital base for U.S. efforts in the Pacific and Asia for many years.

Upon John’s honorable release from service and return to the U.S., he worked as a short order cook in his mother’s diner in Mineral Wells, Texas. Willodean (“Dean”) Ivey was a telephone operator who had eaten at the café just across from her workplace and had seen John’s picture in uniform, proudly displayed by his loving mother, Edna. A mutual friend arranged a blind date for her and John. They were married five months later (Feb. 20, 1947) in a union that was to last for 68 years, ending while they held hands as he took his last breath last Thursday (Feb. 26, 2015).

John and Dean began their life together in Plainview, Texas as part of another family dairy ranch. There union was blessed eleven months later with a girl, Carolyn Lee. John soon decided to pursue a college education and go in another career direction. Working almost all night and taking a heavy load in college, John graduated from Texas Christian University shortly after the family was blessed with a second child, Kenneth Wayne. John became a chemist working in the chemical manufacturing industry. The family moved to Pampa, Texas where John became a chemical engineer, working with Celanese Chemical Company for 32 years. Their third child, Harry Raymond, was born during the years in Pampa. John progressed with Celanese to become a Senior Research Engineer, ultimately helping pioneer the online analysis of chemical manufacturing that made possible greater purity of chemical products at much lower prices. He delivered lectures and papers on the subject in many places, even continuing these efforts intermittently by contract after his retirement.

In 1987, John retired and began another phase of life. He and Dean bought a motor home and took the trip of their dreams throughout much of the western U.S. and into Canada. Their months of travel through the Badlands, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Glacier National Park, Banff, Victoria, the Great Northwest and many other places formed treasured memories of places, events, activities and special times alone that were joyfully recalled for the rest of their lives. John and Dean returned from that trip to buy a new home on Lake Livingston in East Texas where they enjoyed much time with their children and six very loved grandchildren: Bill, Danny, Jennifer, Tim, Chris and Ryan. Later they moved to Friendswood, Texas, then Land O’ Lakes, Florida, and finally Oklahoma City.

John’s life was especially centered on faith and family. John would be the first to say that he was not perfect, but his hope lay in being forgiven by his Lord and knowing the great grace that made his life as a Christian possible (“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God” -- 1 John 3:1). He helped in the support of evangelistic efforts in this country as well as the Philippines. Many beloved brothers and sisters in Christ will miss John, as he became a source of encouragement to remain faithful despite many physical challenges in his later years. His absence will especially be felt in the 84th Street church of Christ where John was a faithful member at the time of his death. Those remaining in his physical family will also miss him greatly. His faithful wife, Dean, the other half of a two made one in life-long marriage, will feel his loss most profoundly. Their love story was the subject of a news story broadcast at Valentines in 2014 viewable at the following link:

http://kfor.com/2014/02/14/67-glorious-years-later-oklahoma-couple-shares-their-secret-to-a-lasting-marriage/#ooid=RyajJvazqTPR6MfA5h9XUOmEvuqP_aA-

As the effects of heart failure and pain from degenerative disc problems became a daily trial, the final year and a half of his life were made so much easier by the care of Integris Hospice. In appreciation of their great help, the family asks that donations be made to Integis Hospice of Oklahoma County in lieu of flowers.

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