Eunice "Euni" Osburn

   Eunice “Euni” Aline (Allen) Osburn, 100, of Sabetha, Kansas died on Monday, February 14, 2022, at the Apostolic Christian Home in Sabetha.  

  Euni was born on a farm northeast of Thurston, Nebraska on December 15, 1921, the fourth of thirteen children born to Seth Thomas Blanchard Allen and Mable Emma (Wilson) Allen.  She graduated from Emerson High School in Emerson, Nebraska in 1939 and then, attended Wayne State Teachers College.  Then, she taught first through eighth grade in a “one room country school” in Walthill, Nebraska for three years before she married Rolland “Ossie” Osburn on June 14, 1942, in Yuma, Arizona.  Ossie and Euni enjoyed 59 wonderful years of marriage and were blessed with three children.  

  Ossie and Euni spent the first few years of their marriage in San Diego and Long Beach, California.  Then, they returned to the small farm community of Thurston, Nebraska, population 90, where she was a homemaker.  Then, in 1956, they returned to California where she became an employee of Bassett Unified School district in La Puente, California.  She worked here for almost 30 years as an assistant in the Physical Education Department.  In 1999, they moved from La Puente, California, which was located in the San Gabriel Valley and where they had made their home for over 40 years to Palm Springs, California.  

  Even though she lived in California most of her life, her roots were in the Midwest.  Euni enjoyed visiting the Midwest several times a year to see her daughters, grandchildren, brothers, and sisters around the Valley Falls, Kansas area.  While in Kansas, she loved a good thunder and lightning storm and the changing of the seasons.  Every winter when everyone was flocking to the warm climate of Palm Springs, California, she made her reservations to fly back to Kansas for the winter holidays.  In the fall of 2017, Euni returned to the Midwest to make her permanent home with her daughter, Gerry, in Sabetha, Kansas.  

  In her younger years, coming from a "musical family” Euni played the guitar and sang with her older brothers and sisters in the “Allen Family Band” and they played for house dances, barn dances, and bowery's (outside stages).  They also played in Yankton, South Dakota on WNAX radio station while advertising Thurston, Nebraska's annual "Watermelon Days.”  There was always music at every gathering, and it continued at the annual Allen Family Reunions.  You could always find Euni on the guitar or keyboard.  Most recently Euni tried her hand at the mandolin and sang "karaoke style" with her son, daughters, and other family members while entertaining the crowd.  She was definitely the "queen of karaoke."  

  Euni was multi-talented and one of those talents was sewing, designing, and creating many fashions for her daughters including a wedding dress for one of her daughters.  There was always tons of material to choose from in her “trunk of material” -- all you had to do was choose the material you wanted, describe what you wanted, or go window shopping to show her exactly what you wanted.  That was enough for her to make a pattern out of newspaper and combine the top of one pattern with the bottom of another.  Her other talents were known far and wide -- she could make or re-make just about anything including curtains, upholstering furniture, laying carpeting, painting, wallpapering, and even tiling bathroom walls!  In later years, she started making “sports memorabilia quilts” out of tee-shirts and sweatshirts which she first made for her children and grandchildren, then for their friends, and for other family members.  Another of her talents was crocheting water bottle covers out of plastic bags in a multitude of colors from different grocery stores, discount stores, and fast-food establishments.  

  The eternal optimist, there wasn't anything that she wouldn't try.  Her family thought that she could do anything and in her children's eyes she could!!  Her husband, Ossie, was a “barber” by trade and Euni was also talented in that area.  She kept up with the latest hairstyles, cut and styled her two daughter’s hair, and even gave her daughters “home permanents” as needed.  

  Family and friends were Euni’s priority – her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren were her pride and joy.  She loved attending as many of their activities as she possibly could.  Also, Euni kept a calendar of everyone's birthday and almost without fail she would recognize them on their special day.  

  She kept up-to-date with current events by watching the news, reading the local Sabetha Herald, Valley Falls Vindicator, and programs like Good Morning America, Dateline, 20-20, The View, The Talk, and 60 minutes.  Other programs she never missed were Shark Tank, The Wheel, RFD channel especially on Saturday nights when the country music programs were broadcast.  She adopted sports teams in Kansas including the Royals, Chiefs, K-State, KU, and the local Sabetha, Kansas teams and she loved to follow all of them.  

  Trying to keep up with the times, she gave up her “flip phone” and tried hard to adapt to an Apple I-phone that had been given to her by her grandson, Brent.  But, at times, her fingers wouldn’t let her hit the right button to accept calls or scroll through her contacts to choose the person she wanted to call.  

  Always dressing fashionably, she added just the right “bling” needed for every outfit she wore. She was truly “Eunique”!!!  

  Euni was preceded in death by her parents, Seth and Mable Allen; her husband, Rolland (Ossie) Osburn; her brothers, John, Donald, Harold, Roy, Dick, Lloyd, and Tom; her sisters, Doris Moore, June Brown, Patsy Frommer, and Evelyn Allen.  

  Euni is survived by her two daughters, Gerry Hayden of Sabetha, Kansas, Sherry (Bud) Hayden of Valley Falls, Kansas; her son, Larry (Connie) Osburn of Bend, Oregon; her ten grandchildren, Erin (Chris) Capettini of Paola, Kansas, Kyle (Katy) Hayden of Eudora, Kansas, Brent (Marla) Hayden of Sabetha, Kansas, Shannon (Scott) Ferguson of Altoona, Iowa, Dr. Shelby (Phil Kowalski) Hayden of Lawrence, Kansas, Shalee (Nic) Ahmann of Watertown, South Dakota, Marcus Osburn of Laguna Niguel, California, Lisa (Dave) Magness of Bend, Oregon, Michelle (Mark Adams) Osburn of Bend Oregon, and Seth (Jing) Osburn of Cathedral City, California; 15 great-grandchildren, PJ and Julia Capettini, Meron, Gage, and Brette Hayden, Colby and Alexia Hayden, Delaney and Case Ferguson, Jackson and Charlei Ahmann, Erien (Samuel) Schrader, Sydney and Dovrann Osburn, and Cole Rynning; four great-great grandchildren, Daniel, Ethan, and Gwen Schrader, and Jirah Osburn; and one sister, Lois Kientz of Valley Falls, Kansas.  

  A Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, April 30, 2022, at the Apple Valley Lane in Ozawkie, Kansas with time of service to be determined.