Doug and Ruth Osborn

Funeral services for Ruth Osborn, 86 and her husband Doug Osborn 87 year old, Sheridan and former Buffalo residents who passed away peacefully together in bed at their home in Sheridan on March 6th, will be held Saturday, July 24th at 11:00 a.m. in The First Presbyterian Church in Sheridan with Reverend Karl Heimbuck and Reverend Dr. Bob Miller officiating. Donations in the Osborn’s memory may be made to the Johnson County Library; the Sheridan County Library; the local Boy Scouts of America; or The Green House Living assisted living facility, in care of the Harness Funeral Home at 351 N. Adams in Buffalo. Online condolences may be made at www.harnessfuneralhome.com Douglas Dean Osborn was born in Farnam, Nebraska on November 10, 1933 to Paul Madison Osborn and Freda Drake Osborn. In 1945 the family moved to Torrington, Wyoming. Ruth Elinor Kalal Osborn was born on June 23, 1934 in Denver, Colorado to August Donald and Elinor Calvert Kalal. She was educated in various schools in the western United States as her family moved to many work project sites while her father was employed by the Bureau of Reclamation. They both graduated from Torrington High School in 1951, Ruth as valedictorian. They attended the University of Wyoming together in 1951 for one year; Ruth stayed on studying Mathematics to 1954 while Doug transferred to the University of Colorado for two years, majoring in Mechanical Engineering. In 1954 they married and moved to Nebraska where they began raising a family, and then southern California where Doug went to work for North American Aviation’s Rocketdyne Division test-firing large liquid fueled rocket engines, including the F-1 engines which powered the Apollo moonshots. While working he also completed his Engineering degree in 1960. Doug started working for Rockwell International’s Space Division on the Apollo project’s final assembly and testing of the Apollo Command Modules, including Apollo 11’s successful trip to the moon in 1969. While completing this work he also earned a Master’s degree in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. After juggling the raising of their three children and advancing her education, in 1972 Ruth graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from California State University at Long Beach and began work for Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company in Newport Beach, California, as Supervisor of the Pension Department Accounting Section. In 1974 she went to work for Lockheed Electronics Company at Edwards AFB in California as a computer programmer. In 1976 she started work as a computer engineer for Rockwell International’s Space Division in Palmdale, California. In 1980 she was promoted to Manager of the Test Engineering Department for the Space Shuttle orbiter, responsible for assuring that all systems on all the orbiters worked as they were designed. Doug’s final job with Rockwell International was testing the 100 B-1B bombers including first flight prior to turning the planes over to the Air Force. Doug and Ruth retired in 1990 and moved to the Buffalo area where they bought a small ranch south of town and started raising Highland cattle. In 1996 Doug successfully ran for Representative from Wyoming House District 40, where he served ten years and ultimately was the Chairman of the Labor, Health and Social Services committee. This committee helped enact laws that set up the drug courts in the state to help control drug use. The committee also successfully promoted the “slow down, move over” law to protect emergency vehicles stopped by the roadway. These are just two of the issues the committee dealt with under Doug’s leadership. In addition, Doug served on the Board of Directors for Crazy Woman Bancorp which has three banks in northern Wyoming. He was also a trustee for the Ray & Kay Littler Trust. After completing his tenure in the legislature, Doug, along with Carmen Rideout and Keith Wilson, traveled to Tupelo, Mississippi to study a new kind of skilled nursing home called The Green House. They put together a team of volunteers who were dedicated to building one in Sheridan. Doug became the President of the team which succeeded in building and opening four cottages for elders of The Green House Living for Sheridan in 2012. In 2014 Doug and Ruth sold their ranch and built a home in and moved to Sheridan. In her later years Ruth enjoyed quilting, gardening, crochet and needlepoint. She and Doug were members of the First Presbyterian Church in Sheridan. Ruth and Doug passed away on the same day and were buried together in a joint service. They are survived by their three sons, Bruce (Twila) of Bowling Green, Ohio; Jay (Marla) of Lviv, Ukraine; and Scott (Carla) of Arcata, California. They are also survived by four grandchildren, Nathaniel Osborn of Henderson, Nevada; Stefanie Ferguson (Greg) of Rancho Santa Margarita, California; and Zoe and Willow Osborn of Arcata, California; and two great grandchildren, James and Lucas Ferguson. Ruth is also survived by one sister, Patricia Kavan of Centennial, Colorado. Ruth and Doug were preceded in death by his brothers, Max of Lakewood, Colorado, and Roger of Longmont, Colorado, and by her sister, Jean Davidson of Los Altos, California, and by their parents.