Our sweet father, husband, brother, uncle and friend passed away in the early morning hours of December 25, 2018 in St. George, Utah after a long, valiant struggle with cancer and Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. Seven years ago, on Christmas Eve 2011, he received a life-saving lung transplant at the University of Utah Hospital, gifting us additional time with this wonderful man and for this we are eternally grateful. To know him was to love him.
Dad was born in Salt Lake City on November 15, 1944 to Max Bateman and Beth Lilywhite (Beth later remarried Norman Osborn.) He attended Evergreen Jr. High School, Olympus High School and completed a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Brazil Mission. Dad graduated with a degree in finance from the University of Utah where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He loved growing up and working in the Highland/Holladay area and formed many dear friendships that have remained to this day. He was drafted in 1968 and served as a Special Forces Green Beret in the National Guard where he made 42 jumps out of an airplane. After returning home he was married and sealed to Christine Marie Huntley in the Salt Lake Temple on October 1, 1970. He was an amazing husband and always treated Mom with love and respect. Together they raised their family in Cottonwood Heights, Utah in a neighborhood where treasured friendships were formed. They moved into the Sun River community in St. George, Utah in 2013, surrounded with caring neighbors and ward members.
He worked in sales for Prentice Hall and Sweetwater Resorts, in public finance with Boettcher & Co. and later as a mortgage broker. He also enjoyed the five years he served on the Cottonwood Heights Board of Directors. Some of the best years of his life were spent working with colleagues who would later become some of his best friends. He loved music and learned to play the piano, guitar and trumpet by ear. One of his greatest joys was singing and playing guitar for his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Dad was a big University of Utah fan and took his children to many basketball and football games over the years. He loved talking sports with friends and family but always kept things in perspective. When he wasn't watching his Utes play, he was either running marathons (17 including Boston!) or hiking in his beloved Wasatch mountains. He was kind, patient and always had a smile on his face. He never had a bad word to say about anyone and made everyone around him feel special. His love for the Gospel and his testimony of Jesus Christ was always evident in how he lived his life. He loved serving on the stake high council and as scoutmaster, gospel doctrine teacher, bishopric second counselor, and singing in the ward choir.
Our family would like to thank the medical professionals who took such great care of him over the past ten years - we are so grateful for each and every one. He was forever grateful for his lung donor and their family and honored them by the way he lived the last seven years on this earth. He is survived by his wife Chris, and their children: Janie (Brock) Belliston, Bryan (Janalyn) Osborn, and Carter (Amy) Osborn; siblings: Barry (Leslie) Osborn; Marilyn (Craig) Hanson; and Ron (Julie) Osborn; and 10 beautiful grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his mother Beth Lilywhite Osborn, father Max Bateman, stepfather Norman Osborn and younger sister Diane Osborn. Funeral services will be held at 12 Noon on Friday, January 4, 2019 at the Draper Utah Meadows Stake Center, 575 East 13800 South, Draper, Utah. A visitation will be held from 10:00am - 11:45am followed by funeral program and luncheon for close family and friends. Interment: Sandy City Cemetery.