A Fruitful Life
Vanguard Magazine, Spring 2006
Bowyer "Ozzie" Osgood '36, an alum of the original Southern California Bible School, left a bequest of more than $250,000 to Vanguard University after he passed away in December 2005.
"We are so grateful for the generosity of Ozzie Osgood in remembering his alma mater in his estate planning," says VU president Murray Dempster. "Ozzie said he wanted to give back to Vanguard in memory and appreciation for 'Brother Needham' and the faculty who helped him to understand and treasure his Christian faith."
Dempster and wife Coralie visited Osgood in Florida in December.
"He was upbeat, had a twinkle in his eye, and we laughed a lot as he remembered tales of God's goodness in his life as a young student, and then with his wife, Dorothy, and his four children," says Dempster.
Osgood grew up on his father's cranberry bog in Duxbury, Mass. He met Dorothy "Dodie" Orr '36 at SCBS, and they married and moved to Everett, Wash., where Osgood pastored an Assembly of God church. He then pastored in Coeur d'Alene, where he was sometimes paid with chickens and vegetables. His first two children were born there, and in the 1940s the Osgoods moved to Florida to work on the family's 100-acre orange grove. Ozzie's career was devoted to the grove from then on.
The Osgoods grew oranges, grapefruits and tangerines at the grove two miles from their home. Ozzie eventually served as CEO of the Lake Region Packing Association, and was president and owner of Osgood Groves, Inc.
"Every day he was out in the grove in his little truck," says daughter Kathleen Lavender. "He'd hoe to keep the weeds down and vines off the trees. It was constant work, but he loved it."
Ozzie sprayed for pests and laid the irrigation pipes himself, with the help of Dodie and the children. The business survived several freezes which forced him to re-plant several acres. Dodie often said he knew every tree by name.
Ozzie kept a pocket Bible in his truck and would read while tending the grove. He was a longtime church usher, and went on his first missions trip in 2005, to Thailand, where he and a team ministered to street people. Also last year, he and his sister, who is in her nineties, drove from Florida to Massachusetts for a prayer retreat.
Rosemary Jackson '84 and her late husband, John '44, had developed a close relationship with the Osgoods over the years. The Osgoods attended several VU homecomings.
Dodie passed away in April 2001, and Ozzie sold the grove in 2005. What struck Dempster most during his visit in with Osgood in December was his affection for founding president Harold Needham, who, Osgood recalled, loved students and invested himself in their lives, including helping them financially. When Dempster showed Osgood the picture of VU's new campus master plan, Osgood said with a genuine sense of passion, "Perhaps not exactly in the same way, but this is Brother Needham's vision."
Five days later, Osgood died unexpectedly. His gift to VU was delivered by Paul Grasser '75, a financial planning consultant for the Assemblies of God Financial Services Group. Ozzie had set up his estate plan withBruce Durkee '90, the president of the Legacy Group at AG Financial Services Group.
"It gave him fulfillment to help financially struggling students," says Lavender. "But he did it in a subtle way. He was humble about it."
Ozzie is survived by his four children, Esther Johnson, Bill Osgood, Richard Osgood and Kathleen Lavender.
"Ozzie identified his future contribution to Vanguard's Vision 2010 to fulfilling the vision of Brother Needham, a person whom he deeply admired and loved," says Dempster. "In Ozzie's view, Vanguard University still embodied the mission, identity, and spirit of SCBS. Rejoice with me in this genuine investment in Vanguard's future by one of Vanguard's world changers."