Howard Harvey Osborne

Cork Osborne grew up as a bona fide “latchkey kid,” raised by ahardworking single mother who moved him between Denver andBoulder in search of jobs that didn’t always hire women, no matterhow high she scored on the qualifying tests. The two of themshared a series of basement apartments and a fierce determinationto make things work. Cork spent a lot of time alone with hisbuddies after school, which, judging by how he turned out, wasboth miraculous and mildly concerning.Cork attended what seemed like half the elementary schools inthe state of Colorado: Valverde elementary, Washington elementary,Corey elementary, Baseline junior high, Flood junior high, andMerrill junior high, before landing at Englewood high school for allthree years of his high school career. There he ran on the CrossCounty and Track teams. He had tried out for the basketball teamand impressed the coaches with his speed, but not so much with hisskills around the basket. He did not become a member of the team.

After a freshman year at CSU, in 1961, Cork graduated from CUBoulder in 1967, as an architect — and as a newly minted Air Forceofficer. Lots of years at the university level. It was as though heloved attending classes. He did not. He and his wife, Pamela,headed off to Richards-Gebaur AFB in Missouri in 1967, where theyspent 3½ years and welcomed their first daughter, Tnle, in 1969.

A few years later, back in Colorado, they designed and built theirdream home in Littleton — and, just to make life even more chaotic,welcomed their second daughter, Pipr, the very same month theymoved in. Cork was still finishing the dry wall.

Cork’s life was a balancing act of architecture, parenting, andcoaching his daughters’ soccer teams — all on his own creativeschedule, since Pam was teaching Spanish at Heritage High School inLittleton and her after-school hours were used up coaching VarsityGirls’ Soccer and Boys’ and Girls’ Varsity Tennis . Cork coached thegoal keepers on Pam’s high school teams.

The Osbornes always had dinner together, even it was 10 :00 pmHe never met a stranger, only potential friends who didn’t yet knowhow much they’d enjoy his company. His trademark greeting, inevery month on the calendar: “Merry Christmas”. He believed thiscovered most conversational bases, and was amused when peopledid not know how to answer.

He never hired help if he could possibly do a job himself (andsometimes even when he wasn’t sure he could). His home is amasterpiece of beautiful gardens, hand-built furniture, sculpturedwalls, and DIY projects that may or may not have been OSHA-approved.

He preferred to solve problems when he ran into them as he worked rather

than plan ahead before the project started.

Tireless and absolutely dauntless, he solved problems and fixedcollateral damage along the way. He always finished his projects.

One of his notable outdoor achievements was a three-tiered waterfeature that kept him busy , and blissfully occupied - for all thespring and summer months. He never failed to have the waterfeature cleaned out and running in time for guests to arrive fordrinks on the patio. Notably, he did all of the work the hard way,like in the 1900’s.

Cork had firm opinions on things. He did not take walks, play golf,attend symphonies, or wear his seatbelt without commentary. Hewas “allergic to” liver, avocados, slow drivers, putting on ski boots,and fancy restaurants with candle light and cloth napkins.

Squirrels on the patio and deer eating the fruit off of the fruittrees prompted him to go out to the garden with his trusty pelletgun to scare them off. ……not to harm, but to make a point.

Cork was not one to rave about tun experiences. He enjoyed flyfishing on the rivers in the Rockies,. He encouraged others toparticipate in the activity of the moment, like getting into even thecoldest rivers fully clothed, shoes on.

During the last 5 years, he truly enjoyed surfing on the Flow Ridersurfing venues on cruise ships. His rides lasted only a few secondsand his falls were spectacular.

When on a camping trip he could be found sitting on a log with ahuge slice of watermelon and spitting seeds for distance in acontest with his grandkids.

He loved Norway - especially Norwegian water falls , Norwegianengineering, and the Norwegian way of managing its resources.As an architect, Cork believed that landscape design on a propertywas just as important as the building itself. As a pianist he playedthe original versions of “Clair de Lune”,“Rhapsody in Blue”, “ All TheThings You Are” ,”That’s All I Ask Of You”, “My Favorite Things” and“Scotch and Soda” — along with his own compositions, which oftenbegan as experiments and became a selection of beautiful chording.

As time passed, Pam became happier every year that she hadmarried this artist and original thinker. He made every weekexceptional.

His home is filled with his sketches, paintings, sculpted walls, andarchitectural drawings — along with photos of the people he lovedmost: his wife Pamela; his daughters, Tnle (and her husband Tom)and Pipr; and his five grandsons, all proudly bearing the nameThomas in one form or another: Thomas Clippr, Thomas Beket,Thomas Ogdn, Thomas Tate and Thomas Holis.

Cork leaves behind a family who adored him, a home that is amuseum of his handiwork, and a spectacular garden, which willalways be Pam’s favorite place to be.

No one else would do projects quite the way Cork did. The imageof Cork’s having climbed high in a tree with a running chain sawwill remain with his wife and daughters forever.

Cork leaves behind his wife Pamela, his daughters Tnle and Pipr, hisson-in-law Tom, his sister Willie, his five grandsons, and his friendswho will miss his “Merry Christmas” presence in their lives.

Cork Osborne was not a hugger, but the loved deeply, builtbeautifully, and left this world infinitely more interesting than hefound it.

“Merry Christmas."