Don & Helen Osborne

Obituary

OSBORNE, Don & Helen

        Helen passed Sept 12th, and was followed shortly by Don on the 27th. After 72 years of marriage they will now be together forever.

       Helen played basketball and baseball, and graduated from Kelso High, class of 41. She moved to Seattle with her sisters to do their part towards the war building planes at Boeing. She continued with Boeing for 27 years, forging the way for other women in a man’s world. She was a co-owner of Vanley Systems, Inc., an engineering research company, and traveled to Paris on business. As kids, she taught us how to make multi-room camps in the house on rainy days, how to wax the wood floors by skating in our socks and roast marshmallows in the fireplace. She also became known to her grandchildren as the ‘silent killer’ at card games.

       Don graduated Benson Polytechnic School of Portland, class of 39. Served in the US Army as a surveyor with the 353 Engineers in Japan. He served as an Airman 1st class in the USAF in the early 50s, then worked at Boeing for 44 years. His favorite time was working on the test crews for the 747. He was a fearless pioneer, loved airplanes, taught flying and was one of the first scuba divers in the Puget Sound area, creating his equipment from scratch after attending a seminar by Jacques Cousteau, and became a scuba instructor for the YMCA. When at the age of 92, he was still trying out new experiences, like indoor skydiving.

       They both taught us the rewards of working hard and playing hard, plus so many other wonderful things. Above all, they both loved spending time with family. We will miss them greatly. They are survived by three children and five grandchildren. In lieu of flowers please donate to cancer research.

 

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