Lawton (Buzz) Osborn

Passed Away on May 16, 2013

Lawton (Buzz) Osborn passed away on May 16th, 2013. Buzz was born Dec. 17, 1922 to Lawton (Sr.) and Dorothy (Robinson) Osborn. He was born and raised in Dickinson, ND. As a youth he attained the rank of Eagle Scout, graduating from Dickinson High School in 1940, where he was active in sports. Beginning college at Northwestern in Chicago, he left to join the Navy after the start of WWII, serving in an F6F Hellcat fighter squadron. He was proud of his carrier landings, especially the ones at night. After his tour, he returned to North Dakota and received his degree from the University of North Dakota. Buzz married Marjorie (Kennedy) from Grand Forks, ND, and three children were born to this union; Kathleen, James and Ann. Returning home to join his father at Osborn Studio, he became a third generation photographer. He took many graduation and class pictures in Dickinson and the surrounding schools and was one of the first to use color photography. His creativity and talent capturing western imagery earned him national awards from the Professional Photographers Association. Several of his rodeo photos are still displayed today. After selling the studio and retiring from photography, he took on the position of Stark County Civil Defense Director and Veteran’s Administrator. He is a Past Exalted Ruler of the Elks, a Grand Mason, a Shriner and a member of the Royal Order of Jesters. An avid sportsman and lover of the outdoors, Buzz was a skilled marksman and thoroughly enjoyed a meal of wild game. His love of North Dakota, and particularly the badlands, was evident in his photographs and the time he spent exploring them. He instilled the love of the outdoors in his children and appreciated a wide realm of friends whom he hunted with throughout his lifetime. Many hours of hunting stories resulted from these adventures. In 1982, he married Shirley (Gustafson) and after both retired, they began to journey southward to Arizona periodically to capitalize on another of his passions-golf. Eventually, they spent most of the winters there and moved permanently in 2009. Buzz was gregarious, a joker, a techno-gadget geek, and enjoyed life immensely. He has been an inspiration in so many ways and will be missed tremendously. He was preceded in death by his father and mother, Lawton and Isabel Osborn and his mother, Dorothy Robinson Kelley. He is survived by his wife, Shirley, children; Katie (Dick) Cooper- Billings, MT, Jim Osborn-Missoula, MT and Ann (Chip) Fischer-Rhame, ND. Other survivors include his stepchildren, Odin Norum and Diana (William) Pardee, grandchildren, Julie (Mike) Limberhand, Justin Cooper, Jamie Hickey, Danielle (Rob) Hammill, Layne Fisher, Mathew and Rachel Wanner, Kristine and Kathleen Larson, Madison and Jaxson Fischer, and great-grandchildren Macy Limberhand, Cooper Hickey, Brayden and Brooklyn Hammill.