EVIN OSTERBERG obituary

Kevin LeRoy Osterberg, 50, of Havre died at his home Friday, Jan. 27, 2006, due to bone and pancreatic cancer.

A memorial service for Kevin, known as “The Sheriff” of North Havre to his friends, will be held at Messiah Lutheran Church on Saturday at 2 p.m. with military honors to be held outside of the church. A reception for family and friends to roast and toast The Sheriff will follow at the Vets Club. Cremation has taken place and the ashes will be scattered at Kevin's favorite nature spot at a later date.

Kevin was born June 13, 1955, in Newberry, Mich., to LeRoy and Wanda (Robinson) Osterberg. The family moved to Coleraine, Minn., in 1957, and he attended Van Dyke Elementary through the fifth grade. In October 1966, the Osterbergs moved to Havre, and Kevin graduated from Havre High School in 1973. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1974 and served as a boiler technician-fireman E3 on the USS Gurke in the Pacific region, based in Yokosuka, Japan. The destroyer participated in the evacuation of Vietnam in 1975. Kevin was honorably discharged from the U.S. Naval Station in San Diego in 1977.

In 1981, Kevin met the love of his life, Marilyn (Marquardt) Ash. She survives him at their home and will continue the completion of their dream home, a house Kevin personally designed and was building for them when his health failed. He was diagnosed with bone and pancreatic cancer in October of 2005, and strove to defeat the diseases with the help of close friends and family.

For a number of years Kevin worked for various employers including the Hill County Road Department, Patrick Construction, Frigstad Manufacturing, Vaughn Trucking and James Verploegen Excavation, before establishing Osterberg Construction and Heavy Equipment. He also was the operator/technician for the North Havre County Water District until his illness.

Kevin was an avid reader, collected coins and was famous for his smoked turkeys, canning and gourmet cooking. The gourmet cooking talent was even shared in the great outdoors on hunting and fishing trips with his nephews and friends. From the time he was a toddler, he dreamed of having his own horse. As an adult, he made that dream come true, raising registered Arabians for a number of years with his friend and neighbor John Shennum. In his youth, Kevin was a Life Scout with the Boy Scouts of America and was an accomplished ski-jumper, competing while living in Minnesota.

Kevin was preceded in death by his father in 1998; mother in 2004; and brother, Erik in 1989.

Survivors include his wife, Marilyn of Havre; sister, Laura Lee of Havre; son, Ryan Laverdure of Missoula; three nephews, Scott Froehlich of Havre, Jeremy Froehlich of Bemidji, Minn., and Derik Froehlich of Bovey, Minn .; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

The family is establishing memorials with the Havre Day Activity Center where Kevin had established friendships with many of their clients (many of whom he took on fishing trips) and also with Bear Paw Hospice in gratitude for the wonderful support and care they provided Kevin and his family during his illness.