Ethel Osborn, 92, of Bronson, passed away on Monday, September 26, 2011 at Drew’s Place II.
Ethel was born November 26, 1918, in Prudhoe-on-Tyne, Northumberland, England. She was the daughter of James and Jane Anne Barnes of Northumberland, England. During WW II, Ethel was a manager of an underground munitions factory. During that time, she met and married Private Fabian F. Osborn, an American soldier with the Army Air Corps on August 4, 1945 in Lancashire, England.
After Fabian was discharged, Ethel came to America on the Queen Elizabeth I with their daughter Lynne in 1947. Fabian and Ethel and their family lived all their married lives on East Chicago Street in Bronson.
Ethel was always active in community affairs serving as a past president of the Child Study Club, Bronson’s Women’s Club, the site search committee for Ryan School, president of the Branch County Federation of Women’s Clubs, a ten year Girl Scout leader, Sunday School teacher at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Coldwater, and the Bronson Housing Commission. She also served as president of St. Mark’s Episcopal Churchwomen, board member of St. Mark’s Nearly New Shop, and she served many years on St. Mark’s Vestry; she served as a church lay reader, and took communion to homebound parish members. Ethel also was a volunteer at the Nearly New Shop as well as a Red Cross Blood Drive caller. Ethel was an active member of British Wives of America in Southwest Michigan, which she helped found in 1947.
Ethel was known for her excellent knitting and crocheting skills, and she was an avid bridge player. She was an amateur entertainer and enjoyed doing programs for various area organizations. Ethel loved to sing and did it well. She also loved traveling and made many journeys abroad. You could often find Ethel with a cup of hot tea, a shortbread cookie, a good mystery book and the television or radio tuned to the Detroit Tigers.
Ethel is survived by her daughter Lynne (William) Sage, Kalamazoo, Anne (Ned) Good, Burr Oak, James (Jane) Osborn, Bellevue, Nebraska, and Maureen (Jerome) Yesh of Bronson grandchildren: Amy Good, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Tara (Jeffrey) Kirschensteiner of Kalamazoo, David Good, Big Rapids, Patrick Sage of Portland, Maine, Erica Sage, Kalamazoo, Rachael Osborn, Papillion, Nebraska, Kristen Yesh, Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and Brittany Yesh, Bronson. Also surviving are her four great grandchildren: Morgan, Jack, and Katherine Kirschensteiner of Kalamazoo, and Zachary Good, Big Rapids, and her sister, Winifred Lambert of Tyne & Wear, England, and three nephews Allen, David, and Thomas of England.
Ethel was preceded in death by her husband Fabian, parents James and Jane Anne Barnes, sister Eva Trueman of England, nieces Norma and Marian, and nephew Bryan Trueman.
A service celebrating the life of Ethel Osborn will be held at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Coldwater on Friday, September 30, 2011 at 11:00 AM with Rev Fr. Stephen Bartlett officiating.
Private interment will be held at the Bronson Cemetery, Bronson, Michigan.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, September 29, 2011 from 3 – 7:00 PM at Dutcher-Kolcz Funeral Home in Bronson.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Endowment Fund or The CHC Home Health & Hospice. www.dutcherfh.com

Due to construction at the funeral home, the parking lot will be closed. Patrons may park across the road at the First United Methodist Church. You may drop passengers off at the east side of the funeral home before parking.