Euology read by Will Osborne:

Hello Everybody,

Before I start, I would just like to say on behalf of the family that all the good wishes and wonderful messages that we have received about dad via cards, letters, in person and via the social media, have been very much appreciated and have been a great comfort to us all. In fact, we've been stunned, humbled but thrilled at the volume and weight of affection that has been expressed.

Thank you all very much.

My father was a man of few words.................... Oh sorry, I misread that..... my father was a man of QUITE a few words, as everybody who knew him will attest to.

But before we move on to the man you all knew, let me tell you a little about his early life.

Dad was born in 1931 in Hinckley, Leicestershire. When he was 1, his mother and father moved him and older sister Christine to Leamington Spa, where they bought a small newsagents and tobacconist shop. They lived there right up to and through the war.

My grandmother used to tell a story that during the war dad and his little mate, Joe Metcalf, went camping one evening in a field just outside town. It was the night of the Coventry Blitz. She remembered being worried sick because Coventry was only a few miles from Leamington and she could almost hear the bombs falling!

After a while though, she looked up the road to see two small bedraggled figures carrying a tent, trudging home, accompanied by an A.R.P. warden, whilst the Luftwaffe droned overhead and Coventry burned an orange glow on the horizon. In my mind, the A.R.P. warden is chief warden Hodges from 'Dad's Army'.

Sadly, during the war dad's father died. So after the war my grandmother sold the shop and moved the family back to Hinckley.

Dad dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. He had trials for West Brom and actually played a couple of reserve friendlies before his knees went - he was only 16 or 17 - this ended his playing career. In fact, only about 15 years ago, he and I were walking round an antique fair at the Granby Halls in Leicester when a little old man came up to him and said "excuse me, but aren't you Jimmy Osborne, the footballer?"

"Yes" said dad, "I am".

Apparently, he used to watch dad play for Hinckley Town just after the war. Dad was quite chuffed that someone remembered him playing.

So........back to Hinckley, no football career, dad started working in a shop called Wightmans. This was a sports and toys shop. He found he quite enjoyed this type of work.

Now, by this time, his sister Christine had already opened a shop of her own in Hinckley, selling baby clothes and, after a while the family decided it was time for dad to open a shop too.

So he kept an eye on the trade press and eventually found one for sale in a place called Rushden in Northamptonshire. He and his mother decided to drive over from Hinckley to take a look. Unfortunately, due to a navigational error, which neither of them would ever admit to, they ended up in Rushton, near Kettering.

Eventually, sorting themselves out, they got to Rushden.

The shop for sale was Mr. Harold Desborough's 'Gift Shop'. Dad liked the shop, liked the town, so he bought it for £500, which was the money he had inherited on his father's death in 1942.

Now 'Osborne Sports and Toys' and that's where it all started.

When he first came to Rushden he lived for 9 months at the Westward Hotel, run by Peter and Joyce Neville, but subsequently bought a house in York Road, Higham.

He met my mother at the Tennis Club in 1957 (she was then Miss Wilson, the P.E. Mistress at the Girl's School). They married in 1960, and I came along in 1961..................in a rare moment of co-operation, I arrived at 2pm on a Thursday afternoon. (Early closing!) Apparently my father came home to find old Doc Cunningham sitting in a chair with his feet on the bed, a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other, telling mum to "breathe Pam, just breathe...............plenty of time yet! (she assures me this is true!)

In 1965 they bought the shop next door, which was old Billy Keller's fruit and veg shop. It came with a flat, so we moved to live above the shop. As you can imagine for me as a 4 year old having to live above a toy shop - it was Heaven! I have wonderful early memories of that time. It was almost Christmas every day!

We've had some wonderful staff at the shop over the years - the week day ladies, the Saturday boys and girls, the Christmas van drivers and Gavin, our outside sports rep.

They have all started as staff, but all became friends and part of the shop's extended family. I must mention the late, great Mrs. Allen who worked for dad for over 25 years!

In the early days, dad's staff recruitment policy was a bit ad hoc. On a busy Saturday near Christmas, customers were 3 or 4 deep at the counter. One customer called out "Come on Mr. Osborne... hurry up!"

"Well get your coat off and help then" said dad. She did, and Mrs. Dickens stayed working for him for many years to come.

With the shop being there for over 60 years there are many stories to tell. So here are just a couple.

In the days that Slinky's were all the rage.... you know the springy things that walked down stairs......a lady came in and bought one. About half an hour later she came back and said "I'm sorry Mr. Osborne but I've had to bring this slinky back.... When I got home I realised I lived in a bungalow!" They both had a good laugh about it and subsequently whenever she came in she would always say: "Do you remember when I bought that slinky?"

On another occasion, a man came into the shop and asked if we sold marbles. "Yes" said dad "just over there, 50p a bag."

"I only want one" said the man.

"Oh, OK," said dad "I think I've got a jar of loose ones somewhere." So the man took a few minutes and carefully selected a single marble. "How much?" he said. "Oh you can have it" dad said "but tell me... why do you want just one marble?"

"Well" he said "I'm restoring a church steeple and I need a marble to go under the weather vane as a bearing because a steel one would rust."

Well... that marble is currently 100 feet above our heads under the weather vane atop this church.

Now, most people know dad because of the shop, but ever since he came to Rushden, he threw himself into the life of the local community. He joined the Round Table, later he joined the Rotary Club, becoming president in its 50^th anniversary year. He was in the History Society, Amenities Society, a member of Rushden Museum.... (later president for a year), Higham Ferrers Archeolgical Society, I could go on........so I will!

Governor at the Boy's School - chairman of the Governors' at Denfield Park.

He had been in the Tennis Club, Golf Club, Bowls Club and on the Rushden Sports Committee. He was only 83 — I don't know how he packed it all in! He should have been 183!

He was also a founder member of Toymaster — the national toy buying group... He was a busy man, and he loved being busy.

I'm nearly there now, but just a couple of other things of which he was particularly proud.

In the late 1970s he and four friends - Don Gibson, Eric Fowell, Clive Wood and Arthur George wrote, under the umbrella of the Rotary Club, two books - One on 'Old Rushden' which sold out twice and the other on 'Old Higham'.

The Queen graciously accepted a copy of the Higham book and also sent a cheque for its chosen charity.

In 2003, he was very proud to have been asked by The British Toy and Hobby association to supply toys from 5 different decades to be displayed at their 50^th Anniversary Toy Fair in London.

Later that same year he was awarded a 'Golden Teddy' for services to the Toy Industry - an award which meant an awful lot to him.

Just a few weeks ago, his grandson, James, was voted 'Friendliest Person' in his school year.

Friendliest Person? It must be in the genes. Speaking of jeans, I never saw dad wear any, it was always trousers, shirt, jacket and tie, even when doing the gardening!

He was thrilled just a few months ago to be able to celebrate the shop's 60^th Anniversary. He was very proud to have served the people of Rushden with toys for 60 years.

Finally, behind every man is a great woman - My mother. Working quietly, behind the scenes, helping to make him the man he was. So - there we are - but let me tell you one last story.

At Rotary, they have a bell which they ring to start the meetings. One day, dad thought he would take the bell home to clean it. While he was cleaning it, however, he broke it! Now you can't just glue a bell back together, so dad managed to find someone with the necessary skills to weld it. Not an easy task. Anyway, after a week or so, the man returned the bell as good as new. "That's great, you've saved my life" said dad - "how much do I owe you?"

"Nothing" said the man. "It's free of charge, and I will tell you why" he said.

"When I was a boy, you used to repair my toy trains for me for nothing, and it's pleased me no end to be able to return the favour.

Well, it just goes to show, you reap what you sow.

"So there we are" to quote my father; "We must keep soldiering on."

He was a lovely man. He had a lovely life.

We will miss him......., and so we should.