Lawrence "Larry" Osborne

Lawrence “Larry” J. Osborne, 67, of Rockford passed away on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2021, less than four months after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis.  His wife, Becky Thalhofer and their family were by his side.  Larry was born August 31, 1954, in Rockford, the third of eight children of William F. and Rose J. (Reiland) Osborne.  He graduated from St. Patrick’s School, Boylan High School, and Northern Illinois University.  While attending NIU, he went to work for the Hart Schaffner Marx specialty clothing store Baskin Stuckey’s in Rockford and soon became a buyer.  He and Becky met when they both worked for Baskin Clothing, she in Chicago and he then managing the two stores in Rockford at Colonial Village and Cherryvale.  In March of 1980, Larry was promoted to Regional Manager of the nine northside Baskin stores and moved to Chicago.  On April 1, 1980, they ran into each other on Division Street in Chicago one night and had their first date the next night.  They married in Chicago on April 9, 1983.  Larry then became a Buyer of men’s tailored clothing for Baskin.  Larry loved going to the Cub’s day games, no lights in Wrigley yet, and they bought a 2-flat, greystone a block from the ball park.  On August 8, 1988, (the weekend of lights and the first night game at Wrigley) Larry and Becky moved to Baltimore when Larry was promoted to V.P. of the Glen Eagles Division.  Their first daughter, Katy, was born in Baltimore.  Later they moved to New York when Larry went to work for Joseph & Feiss / Hugo Boss as V.P. and had their second daughter, Suzy.  As the men’s tailored clothing industry shrunk drastically, Larry went to work for Taubman Centers leasing mall space.  That job took the family of four to Rochester Hills, MI.  One more move brought them full circle to Rockford in 2000 when Larry worked for Lamar, a few years later he started his own, very successful, billboard sales business, Whiplash Adz.  They had a fun time living in many different places but have been happy in Rockford for the last 21 years.  Larry was a wonderful husband for more than 38 years, a terrific father who was very involved in his daughters’ activities, and always there for good advice.  Like his mother, Larry loved animals of all shapes and sizes.  They always had cats and dogs but for 41 years Larry was on the watch for the neighborhood squirrels, chipmunks, birds, wild turkeys, etc.  He fed them all and always alerted Becky as to their whereabouts.  Those that know Larry know that he read several newspapers daily, always had the news or sports on and retained it all!  He was a wealth of knowledge, Becky’s personal Google!  Larry was diagnosed on August 29th.  Katy became engaged on September 5th and was married on October 2nd.  Suzy got engaged on December 3rd.  Larry and Becky are very happy with the wonderful men in their daughters’ lives.  Larry is survived by his father, William F. Osborne of Rockford; his wife, Rebecca Thalhofer; his children, Kathryn (Stan) Metzler of Roscoe, IL, Suzanne (fiancé, Jack Ribar) Osborne of Philadelphia, PA; in addition to his siblings, Thomas (Jan Even) of OR; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Robin of AZ, Mary Catherine (Randall) Knutson of Rockford, William (Daina) of Cherry Valley, James of Gurnee, Jane Turley of ME, John (Nilsa) of Plano; and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.  He was predeceased by his mother, Rose; and his brother, Steve.  Special thanks to Dr. Stephen Minore, Dr. Juliette Kalweit and the nurses, especially CJ, at Serenity Hospice.

A funeral memorial mass will be at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, January 29, 2022, at Holy Family Catholic Church, 4401 Highcrest Road, Rockford, with visitation from 8:30 a.m. to service time.  Arrangements by Delehanty Funeral Home, Ltd., 401 River Lane, Loves Park.  In lieu of flowers, memorials to the family.