Theodore 'Ted' Grant Osborne

Theodore “Ted” Grant Osborne came into the world on a very cold and snowy day, Dec. 17, 1919, born with a twin sister to Omer Harlan and Minnie Jane Osborne on a farm near Gloyd, Wash.

He passed peacefully into the Lord’s hands Jan. 6, 2009, on another winter day at his home on his farm only one mile away from where he was born.

Ted often said that “I only went one mile in my lifetime.”

Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m., Monday, at the First Presbyterian Church, with Pastor Eric Frey and Dr. Paul Wagner officiating. Arrangements are in care of Kayser’s Chapel and Crematory.

Please sign the book or leave a note for the family at www.kayserschapel.com

He is one of only a few who could say he attended two years at Neppel High School and two years at Moses Lake High School in the same town, same school and same building. His graduating class of 1940 was the first where diplomas read MLHS.

Ted excelled in athletics, being named to the all Grant County basketball team in his freshman year, lettering in basketball, track and baseball all four years of high school. In 2002, he was pleased to be inducted into the Moses Lake Athletic Hall of Fame.

Later he played on the Marine Corp basketball teams as well as a coach/player for the Moses Lake town team .

During the summer before he graduated from MLHS and one summer afterward and before attending Eastern Washington State College, for a short time, Ted was a diamond driller on Grand Coulee and the Anderson Ranch Dams prior to enlisting with his brother, Harris, into the United States Marine Corps during World War II. Serving in the South Pacific, Ted was honorably discharged in 1946 with the rank of staff sergeant.

During the war, he often dreamed of having a family and of developing an irrigated farm on the Columbia Basin Project. He bought some of the land first homesteaded by his grandfather in 1907 while in the service. Following the war he resumed work as a diamond driller on other northwest dams including O’Sullivan Dam.

After marrying Barbara Anderson in 1950, they brought the dream to fruition developing a farm unit in the northern end of Block 40 and raising three sons, “The best crop we ever raised!” He was glad that the farm life allowed a close interaction with his sons.

The Columbia Basin Irrigation Project became his avocation. In 1960 Ted was elected to the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District Board of Directors and retired after his 39th year from the board in January 2000.

Predeceased by his parents, sisters, Tessie, Bertha, Ethel and Esther and brothers Tom and Ed and eldest son Douglas Grant Osborne.

Ted is survived by his wife Barbara, sons Ronald and Karen Osborne of west Seattle, Donald Osborne, Debi and Stan Keyzer, grandchildren Angela Osborne-Alvarado of Moses Lake, Douglas Grant and Jessa Osborne of Missoula, Mont., Anna and Emme Osborne, three great-grandchildren Cierra, Ariel and Preston, a brother Harris of Yakima, Wash., and a long list of nephews and nieces.

The family is grateful to their church family for their faithful prayers, to Annie Andersen and her cheerful staff at the Moses Lake Clinic, the group of nurses in the short stay unit at Samaritan Hospital who made having transfusions a pleasant experience, to all donors who give blood to the Inland NW Blood Center, and for the kindness and encouragement of their friends.

Ted enjoyed taking on a challenge like farming through the Mount St Helens ash in 1980. Some favorite things were coffee with neighbors, family gatherings, listening and watching sports and playing the harmonica, which usually included the “Marine Corp Hymn” and ended with “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?” and of course, Chico’s Pizza. Ted was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Block 40 Community Club and the Veteran’s of Foreign Wars.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be made to the Tall Timber Ranch, c/o First Presbyterian Church, 1142 W. Ivy, Moses Lake, WA 98837.