Cyril C. E. OSBORNE

OSBORNE, Cyril C.E., D.L.S. Died on July 12th, 2005 at home surrounded by family, leaving his beloved wife Rita, children Elaine, Richard and daughter-in-law Karen, and grandchildren Rob, Christopher and Sandra. Cyril was born in Calcutta, India and lived his early life in a Kiplingesque environment during the period when Mahatma Gandhi was bringing about the end of the British Raj. He attended Bishop Cotten School in Simla with, among others, two princes from Sikkim, the son of a tribal chieftain from Afghanistan, and a young cricketer who later excelled in taking ten wickets in a U.K. vs India test match. His own claim to fame in that period was being caught smoking after lights out. Cyril served for most of WW2 in Iraq and Persia (Iran) on the route used for shipping of supplies to Russia. Rita and Cyril were married in Ahwaz. She was given away by an executive of the Anglo Iranian Oil Company, her bridal gown was made in the local souk, the service was held in a newly constructed adobe church, and the reception was given in the Mess of a Company of U.S. military engineers. Nearing the end of the war Cyril worked for the Basra Port Directorate for four years as a Hydrographic surveyor on the Shatt-el-Arab. In 1946 he established the first shore-to-ship pipeline for the export of oil from the newly developed fields in Kuwait. Rita, Cyril and their two children emigrated to Canada from the U.K. in 1949, and shortly after he joined the Royal Canadian Engineers. During his sixteen years as a member of the Armed Forces he contributed to the mapping of the Canadian north, attended the Royal Military College of Science in the U.K., had strawberries and cream at Buckingham Palace, represented Canada at meetings in the U.K., U.S., and Australia with the Canadian Defence staff, and was reported missing in the Yukon Territories, but he survived and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1966. For the next twenty years as a civil servant Cyril struggled to save the country from the excesses of the federal and provincial governments, with limited success. He spent two years as a senior Lecturer and Consultant in Public Administration with the Institute of Development Management, a CIDA funded project in Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. He was commended by Sir Seretse Khama, the President of Botswana, and the International Red Cross for his management of the first Red Cross Seminar held in Southern Africa. In 1988 he retired to Goderich with Rita to garden, golf with other geriatrics, and spend winters in Florida. And now jacta alea est which as Cyril would say can be loosely translated as there is no tomorrow and when I must leave you for a little while please do not grieve and shed wild tears and hug the sorrow to you thru the years, but go on bravely with a gallant smile and for my sake and for my name live on and do all things the same. At Cyril's request there will be no visitation or service. Internment of ashes will take place at a later date. A tree will be planted in memory. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Maitland Valley Medical Centre in Goderich, c/o McCallum & Palla Funeral Home, 11 Cambria Road North, Goderich, Ontario, N7A 2N8. Published in the Ottawa Citizen on 7/19/2005