William "Bill" Franklin Osborne

Willian Franklin Osborne died Thursday, January 13, 2022 in Rockford, Illinois. He was 94 years old. He lived a long and happy life that was marked by his deep love for his wife Rose Jane Reiland Osborne and their eight children. His happiest days came when he shared life’s simple moments with family – whether baking a pizza for a gaggle of grandchildren, complimenting a young Osborne for a soccer game or dance performance, or immersing himself in the Osborne family gathering on Christmas Eve.
He came of age during World War II and the post-war years. He served in the Navy, made a memorable cross country motorcycle journey with his buddies, and began a 40-plus-year career as an office worker at National Lock. At National Lock, he met Rose Jane Reiland, who would become his wife and partner in a wonderful life. They married at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church on September 9, 1950. They began a family, stretched their budget to buy a small but brand new home on the west side, and embarked on the monumental task of raising eight children. With the benefit of his brothers’ and an uncle’s construction skills, he added onto the house little by little to create enough space for the lives of eight active kids. By contemporary standards, the house was maybe a bathroom and bedroom short, but Bill and Rose made it an authentic family home.
William Franklin Osborne, or Bill as he was known, was born October 23, 1927 to William Frederick Osborne and Maria Lucia Lazio in Rockford. The father was a miner and foundry worker from downstate Illinois; the mother was the daughter of Sicilian immigrants and had been born in Convent, Louisiana and had come to Rockford with her family in about 1914. Bill grew up on Rockford’s south side with two younger brothers and a younger sister. He attended East High School, worked as a messenger for Western Union, and joined the Navy. Cultivating a natural talent, the Navy trained him to be a ship’s radio operator, a duty that he would reflect on all of his life with satisfaction. He went to sea on the USS Norris, a destroyer, during the final days of World War II. Several years later, he would return to active duty in the Navy during the Korean War. Service in the Navy shaped his life. He wrapped his long fingers around a telegraph key and banged out dots and dashes as if Morse code was his native tongue. Late in life, he kept a telegraph key among Navy keepsakes and family treasures in his assisted living apartment and if you would ask, he could still tap out a word or two in Morse code.

He was a happy man when he could take the wheel of the family station wagon with a kid packed into every seat and drive off to call on Osborne or Reiland relatives for a summer picnic or holiday gathering. He loved to line up the kids and take a family picture with the Argus C-3 camera he had bought while in the Navy.

Rose was the absolute center of his universe. He was chatty; she was quiet. When he had gone too far, she would discreetly utter, “Bill,” and he’d take his cue. They were in love and in sync. When the kids were grown, Bill and Rose moved cross-town to a different house on Buckingham Drive with fewer bedrooms but a bigger living room. They welcomed the grown children, their spouses, and the grandchildren into the new living room and felt joy when family chatter filled the room. “Grandpa Bill” baked hundreds of pizzas for his visiting grandchildren. Rose’s death in 2006 broke his heart.

Bill had a deep interest in his roots and became a student of his family history. He tracked down census records for Osbornes deep into the 19th century in the south; found the manifest of the ship that carried his grandfather and 900 other immigrants from Palermo to New Orleans; deciphered the misspelled names of his grandparents’ Sicilian immigrant family on handwritten Louisiana records; he could explain to you how you were related to an Osborne, Scroggin, Lazio, Parlapiano or a DiGiovanni. He gave his children a story of “us.” He capped his lifelong passion for family history when he joined a group of others descended from Sicilian immigrants and traveled with Gene Fedelli in the early 2000s to Sambuca di Sicilia, the Sicilian town of his grandparents Giovanni Lazio and Rosalie Priola.

William Franklin Osborne is survived by six children and their spouses: Thomas Osborne and Janet Even of Redmond, Oregon; Mary Catherine and Randall Knutson of Rockford; William John and Daina Osborne of Cherry Valley; James Osborne of Gurnee; Jane Turley of Rockford; John and Nilsa Osborne of Sandwich; Rebecca Thalhofer of Rockford; Robin Martinez of Tucson. His sister, Carole Johnson, also survives.

He is survived by 14 grandchildren and their spouses: Jane and Mike Neville; Norman Knutson; Pete and Natalie Osborne; Kirsten Osborne; William John Osborne; Jason and Lisa Osborne; Kristine Rose Correa; Mark and Tori Gipson-Turley; Matthew and Meghan Jones Turley; Michael Turley; Katy and Stan Metzler; Suzy Osborne and Jack Ribar; Lauren Rose and Margaret Osborne.

He is survived by 21 great-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren: Nesta, Olivia and Ruby Osborne; Hailey, Adeline and Zachary Osborne; Leah and Lexi Neville; William Owen Jonas Osborne; Alex, Emmett and Stella Osborne; Emmi and Ben Correa; Sam, Lila and Lucas Turley; Charlie Michaels; Dylan, Landon and Finn Turley.

He was predeceased by his wife Rose; sons Steven and Lawrence Osborne; son-in-law Mark Turley; his parents; his brothers Charles Randle Osborne and John Harvey Osborne; his half-brother Brant Osborne.

The family thanks The Atrium, and especially nurses Janice and Colleen, for caring for Bill in the final chapter of his life.

The family will establish a memorial in memory of Bill at a later date.

Funeral Mass will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Friday, January 28, 2022, at the Cathedral of St. Peter, 1243 N. Church St. Rockford, with the Very Reverend Kenneth Anderson officiating. Burial in Calvary Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will be from 9:30 A.M. until 10:45 A.M. on Friday at the church. Facemasks are required. To view the services on zoom use ID 810 290 6045 meeting ID 1234. Arrangements by Fitzgerald Funeral Home and Crematory, 1860 S. Mulford Rd. Rockford, IL 61108. Share online condolences at www.fitzgerldfh.com.