Donald E. Osten
May 23, 1945 - October 17, 2020
Obituary
Oregon - Donald E. Osten, age 75, of Oregon, passed away on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020, at Agrace HospiceCare. He was born on May 23, 1945, in Milwaukee, the son of Harvey and Alfreda (Evanson) Osten. On March 22, 1969, Donald married Kathleen Beth (Tapscott) Osten.
Donald completed his undergraduate degree at UW-Madison and earned his Ph.D. at Oregon State University. Prior to retirement he enjoyed a career as a scientist. In his free time, he enjoyed hiking, camping, fishing, and hunting with his wife. He also enjoyed photography, cross country skiing and playing Sheepshead with the family and friends at the Senior Center.
Donald is survived by two daughters, Melissa (Rodney Byers) Little and Johanna (Bob Worthington) Osten; three brothers, Tom (Patricia) Osten, Jim (Susan) Osten and John (Shelia) Osten; two sisters, Linda (Matt) Kowalewski and Katherine (Richard Thompson) Osten; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; and his wife, Kathleen Beth Osten.
Private family services will be held. The family would like to thank the staff of Agrace HospiceCare for all of their wonderful care given to Don. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Agrace HospiceCare. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.
Gunderson Oregon
Funeral & Cremation Care
1150 Park St.
(608) 835-3515
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Memories
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Liz Osten Bettencourt
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The last time I saw him was about 3 years ago at my cousin April's house in Wisconsin. Uncle Donald spent the afternoon playing sheepshead with four of his nieces. He won all of our chips! It was a fun afternoon. When I'm in Wisconsin again we'll play in Uncle Donald's memory.
He said "ew... girls" when he arrived and Laura and I were sitting on the front steps painting our toe nails. That's classic Uncle Donald for ya. I laughed and felt like I was 6 again. When it comes to teasing us girls, Uncle Donald and his brother Jim (my dad) are the best!
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Katherine Osten
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My memories of Donald are limited to when he and I were older, as he was 10 years old when I was born. I remember him coming back to Wisconsin from Oregon soon after he defended his PhD thesis the summer of 1972. He and I were at the grocery store in Sussex picking up a few things for mother. We walked by the soda aisle and I asked him if he thought we should get some soda. He said soda has helegenated hydrocarbons and it was bad to drink. I never forgot that.
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Bambi
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Donald: Top shelf piss and vinegar savored in friendly banter and belly laughs. Beautiful journey onward, Uncle Donald. -Bambi
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Ione Mellum
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One of many favorite memories of Donald would be the telling of the story of an "Italian Vampire" on the opening day of Deer Season.
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Tom and Pat Osten
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Melissa and Johanna, Our thoughts and prayers are with you on the loss of your Father and my Brother, Donald. We will have a memorial mass said for him in our church. For some reason the following story sticks in my mind. I was about six years old when our parents went off to vote and left me in charge. I decided to check on my brothers. I went into the living room and found the twins preparing to give each other a shampoo, over the upholstered rocking chair. I told them that they shouldn’t do that; but, they ignored me. I then went into the kitchen where I found Donald in front of the refrigerator with a loaf of bread and a dish of butter that had fallen on the floor. He had a table knife and was trying to scrape the butter off the floor and back into the dish, saying “Bubby come home, bubby come home”. At this point our parents came home and rescued the butter. Uncle Tom and Aunt Pat
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Linda Kowalewski
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How many people can say they have a brother who read an entire set of encyclopedias?...That’s Donald. When I was a kid, my brothers teased me mercilessly, so I thought they were all “dumb”. But Donald had an extremely high IQ, which was discovered by our mother at a high school conference about Don’s behavior in class. He was the first of us kids to get a summer job, buy a beater car, and go to college. From the time I was 12 until about 20, Donald was away from home graduating college, writing his thesis and working at jobs in various states. So when he and Kathy moved to Mazomanee, I got to know him again and enjoyed visiting my new sister-in-law and little nieces. Whenever we got together, we played sheepshead and drank beer. Donald told me once he had to drink a lot of beer because he had to be like our Dad. Our families did a lot of camping at Rock Island State Park and other places. We fished and swam and talked around the campfire. Donald was always really happy and a lot of fun when we were camping and those are the memories I will always have with me.