Bruce H. Osborne

Bruce H. Osborne 1924 ~ 2008 Bruce H Osborne, 84, passed peacefully away on Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 in Cedar City. He was born August 27th, 1924 in Minersville, Utah. He is the son of Josiah Osborne Jr. and Lucy Murdock Osborne. He had an ideal childhood growing up in a thriving farming community making life-long friends with cousins and close school chums alike. He was the youngest child of seven children having three sisters and three brothers. The family moved to Beaver, Utah when he was in high school. He was a standout athlete for Beaver High School, holding the Utah state high hurdles record for 27 years and serving as the Student Body President. He attended Utah State University for one year on a football scholarship before joining the United States Marine Corps in 1943. He served his country in the South Pacific Theater for the duration of World War II and was honorably discharged in San Diego, California in February 1946. On January 2nd, 1946 he married his best friend and eternal companion, Eleene Nowers, also of Beaver, Utah. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Manti, Utah Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Following the War, he attended Brigham Young University on a football scholarship and was the starting fullback during the 1947 and 1948 seasons. He had an offer to play professional football from the Los Angeles Rams but opted instead to coach and teach school, launching a 38-year career that affected the lives of countless young men throughout Southern Utah. He started his career at Delta High School coaching football and track. In 1949 Coach Osborne started the wrestling program at Delta because he had a vision that it was "good for kids." That vision began a dynasty which has netted 25 State Championships in the years since. After four years at Delta he coached briefly at Provo High School before moving to Cedar City as the head football coach at the Branch Agricultural College, now Southern Utah University. During his tenure as head coach, 1954-1965, he won the ICAC football championship in 1962. When the school transitioned to a four-year college (becoming the College of Southern Utah), Coach Osborne went back to school himself, taking a sabbatical and leave of absence to complete a Doctor of Education degree in Physiology and Exercise Kinesiology at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Returning to Southern Utah, he became the Director of Athletics and Chair of the Physical Education Department. He retired in 1987. While at Southern Utah he prided himself on the high percentage of graduates from the Physical Education Department who were placed for employment. Even today it is difficult to find a secondary school in the state of Utah without a physical education teacher influenced by Dr. Osborne. During the same period of time he was a charter member of the Utah Governor's Council for Physical Fitness, Chairman of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics District Seven, Chairman for the Professional Preparation in the Southwest District of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, and he was the Chairman of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Athletic Directors Association. In addition Coach Osborne served for many years in the Cedar City Lions Club and as a Merit Badge Councilor for the Boy Scouts of America. After retirement Dr. Osborne and his wife Eleene served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1992-1993 in the Lansing Michigan Mission. Bruce was active in the out-of-doors throughout his life. He was one of the few single-digit handicap golfers in the region. He and Eleene took many satisfying RV trips with dear friends throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. He loved fishing and his grandchildren all have favorite stories about "fishin' with grandpa." Bruce and Eleene's cabin at Panguitch Lake has served as a retreat for family members for many years and will remain a family meeting place for years to come. Dr. Osborne is survived by his wife of 62 years, Eleene Nowers and four children; Ann Marie Griggs (Ed) of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Rex Osborne (Taeh), of Eagle, Idaho; Brent Osborne (Louise) of Preston, Idaho; and Kent Osborne (Teresa) of Providence, Utah. He and Eleene have 15 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. He will be greatly missed by his family, many friends and his former students, football players and wrestlers from throughout the intermountain region. A viewing will be held on Friday, November 28, 2008 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Southern Utah Mortuary and again on Saturday Morning from 9:00-10:00 a.m. at the Cedar 7th Ward Chapel on 256 South 900 West. The Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, November 29, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. at the Cedar 7th Ward Chapel. In lieu of flowers the family has asked that donations be made to the Perpetual Education Fund of the LDS Church. Donations can be forwarded in Bruce's memory to PEF, PO Box 27188, Provo, UT 84602 or on-line at www.ldsp.org. Online condolences can be sent to www.southernutahmortuary.com