Peter LeRoy Osman, of Pima and a United States Navy veteran, entered into life eternal Saturday, December 17, 2022, at his residence with his wife, Lynn, by his bedside. He was 85.
Peter LeRoy Osman was born in Pacific Grove, California on 30 December 1936, an only child, to Peter Osman and Marjorie Lucille Smith. He was born at home and arrived in this world one hour before the nurse could make it there, so his grandmother Osman had to help with the delivery. Since she had 11 children, she knew what to do. His father did odd jobs for a living, so they moved a lot. Pete grew up mainly in South Dakota and Washington State. His favorite place was a house on the coast about 3 miles from Holly, Washington, and up a canyon a half mile. It had a nice stream, Anderson Creek, running through the property so this is where he grew to love fishing, using a willow pole with a string and a hook. They moved a couple of other times then ended up back at the same house on Anderson Creek. He said he had to walk the half mile to the road to catch the school bus. He was the first to be picked up and the last to be dropped off, so it was dark when he left and dark when he got home. The road up to his house was a narrow heavily wooded road and he would hear different animal sounds on his way home, so he made it home in half the time it took him in the morning. After a while he became use to the woods and spent most of his leisure time hiking and fishing. When he was in the 9th grade, they moved to Omak, Washington, where he was able to graduate from high school. He loved wood shop and track, where he earned several 1st place awards and went to District his senior year. While in high school, he would work in the apple orchards during the harvest time. His last summer he worked in a bakery every morning from 4:00 – 8:00 before school.
Pete joined the Navy after graduating from school and served on the USS Nicholas. That took him to places like, Pearl Harbor, Treasure Island in San Francisco, and Japan. Pete and one of his buddies from North Dakota took a one-month leave. It was on the bus, going home, that he met Ruth Fossey, from Salt Lake City, and were married a short time later. He worked in the sick bay aboard ship then received orders to attend Hospital Corpsman School. After he was discharged from the Navy, they moved back to Salt Lake. He eventually got a job in the clinic at Kennecott Copper mine in Salt Lake City. Pete and Ruth had three children: Michael, Linda and Cathy. Ruth was an only child also, so the kids have no aunts or uncles.
Ruth passed away in 1987. Shortly after that, Pete met Lynn Allen Lindsay and they were married. He loved hiking and fishing in the Uinta Mountains. When he retired, they moved to Arizona. He continued his hiking and fishing, traveling and did a lot of work on his genealogy. Pete lived in Arizona for 28 years and passed away on the 17th of December 2022, just 13 days before his 86th birthday.
Funeral services for Pete will be conducted Wednesday afternoon, December 28, 2022, at 1:00 p.m., at Vining Funeral Home’s “Chapel of the Valley” by Bishop Kevin Peck of the Pima 3rd Ward. Concluding services with military honors conferred by the Gila Valley Veterans Honor Guard will follow in the Pima Cemetery.
The family will receive friends Wednesday, December 28, 2022, from 12:00 p.m. (noon) until service time at 1:00 p.m., also at the funeral home.
Online condolences may be offered at www.viningfuneralhome.com
Arrangements are entrusted to Vining Funeral Home.
