Laurence Osburnsen, 94
Laurence Osburnsen, 94, formerly of Big Arm, and Surprise, Ariz., passed away May 4, 2008, in Kalispell.
Larry was born July 7, 1913, in Joliet, Ill., the seventh of 10 children of Haggen and Alvina Osburnsen. He moved with his family in 1914 to homestead in the Denton area of Montana. He graduated in 1933 from Denton High School, where he was a member of the basketball, football and track teams.
After graduation, he attended the Montana School of Mines from 1934 to 1935 and transferred to the University of Montana, where he received a degree in forestry in 1939. He was a member of Druids, a Forest School honorary, and Phi-Sigma Science Honorary.
He enjoyed working for the Forest Service during his summers while in college, manning lookouts and fighting fires. Since there were no appointments available in forestry, after college he spent the winter in California working on defense projects as a carpenter. In 1940-'41, he worked in Nebraska for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. In 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and was trained as a combat glider pilot.
After the war, he returned to the Soil Conservation Service in Nebraska and later was transferred to Montana, where he worked in Circle, Superior, Missoula and Butte. In 1968, he took a three-month assignment to Senegal, Africa, where he worked with locals to set up a rice-development project. After his retirement from the SCS in 1973, he took an assignment in Swaziland, Africa, to work on a land development and irrigation project until 1982. In 1984-1985, he was employed by Morrison Knudson to work on a rice-development project in Mindano, Philippines.
After this, he spent his time between his summer home on Flathead Lake and his winter home in Surprise, before moving to Buffalo Hills in Kalispell.
Larry married Winifred Bickle in Texas in 1942 and had two daughters and a son. In 1980, he was married to Faye Sloan in Las Vegas.
Larry was very active in many local groups: Masonic Mountain Lodge No. 110 in Superior, Elks Lodge, Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, American Legion, Kiwanis and Lions in Missoula, and was active in HARP, NARFE and Good Sam's.
Larry loved to be outdoors, whether it was fishing, hunting or working on one of his many beloved projects. He also loved to fly and had a commercial pilot's license.
He enjoyed sharing stories about growing up in the Judith Basin, his worldly travels and his many life experiences with family and a multitude of friends that he made wherever he went.
He was preceded in death by Winifred Osburnsen, Faye Sloan-Osburnsen, and his son, James Osburnsen.
He will be missed by his family; sisters, Genevieve Bridger and Marion Billadeau of Lewistown; daughters, Diane Osburnsen of Mexico and Linda Gwiazdon of Whitefish; four grandsons, Shane Reese, Scott Reese, Koan Mercer and Matthew Gwiazdon; three granddaughters, Courtney Gwiazdon, Millie Flanigan and Stephanie Conway; and 10 great-grandchildren.
Larry's wish was to have a memorial lakeside at his home in Big Arm. This will be held in late summer.
In lieu of flowers, Larry wished memorials to be made to the Shriner's Children's Hospital.
Buffalo Hill Funeral Home is caring for the family.