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The night before her father died, Marie Osmond chose one of his favorite songs, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," to accompany her performance on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."
"And now," she said at his funeral Friday, "he's dancing in the stars."
George Osmond, father of one of America's most famous musical families, died of natural causes Tuesday at his home in Provo.
He was 90.
All nine Osmond children spoke at the funeral, as did Thomas S. Monson, first counselor to the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. George's wife, Olive, preceded him in death in 2004.
Most of the benches in the Provo LDS chapel where the funeral was held were filled by members of George Osmond's extended family -- he had 55 grandchildren and 48 great-grandchildren.
"If you would have asked him whether he would have a large family, he would have laughed at you," son Virl Osmond said. "But Mother always wanted at least one girl, so they kept having children and ended up with nine."
More than 100 family members traveled to Chicago this week to tape an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," which aired Friday afternoon. The episode featured the Osmond children in old and new performances and sharing memories of their father.
More than 300 people joined the family at the service. Thousands more sent condolences by e-mail. Jimmy Osmond, George's youngest son, said at one point the family had received more than 20,000 messages in just a few hours.
"His influence will be felt for a long time to come," said son Donny Osmond. "The amount of people who have been introduced to the gospel by him and his sweet wife is uncountable."
Monson praised the family's missionary efforts. Members of the family have performed in various locations since the '70s, and they were often seen as representatives of the LDS faith.
"I've been very proud of the Osmonds," Monson said. "They're great missionaries all over the world. I'd rather see a sermon preached than hear one any day, and the Osmonds are a sermon."
Monson read a letter expressing condolences from the First Presidency of the church, its highest governing body. He also advised the family to stick together.
"I give you a suggestion to love one another," Monson said. "And let there be no division among you, and you would be giving your father and mother the greatest gift you can give."
Most of George's children spoke of how he taught them that family was important and that they should all work together for success. He led most of the family to stardom -- seven of his nine children have performed and recorded various styles of music. All counted, the family has recorded 142 albums, selling 100 million copies with 51 gold and platinum recordings.
Only Virl and Tom, the two oldest sons, didn't sing because they are hearing impaired. Virl said any success the family has had can be attributed to his father's efforts.
"He always included Tom and me in the family enterprise," Virl said. "We never felt left out. We were always working together as a team."
After Olive's death, son Wayne Osmond said he had many candid talks with George, who increasingly talked about being unhappy.
"So I prayed that Heavenly Father would make him happy," Wayne said. "And he did, by reuniting him with Mother."
The funeral itself was not without happy moments. Merrill Osmond told of a time his father said he wanted to give him something. The gift turned out to be George's LDS temple clothing.
"He told me, 'I know how much you love temple work,' and he gave me his temple suit," Merrill said. "The other night the brothers were looking for his temple suit to dress him in it, and I didn't tell them where it was."
It took a while for the laughter to die down. When Donny began his remarks, he said his brother Merrill owed him some money.
"I got off the plane and went directly to the distribution center in Salt Lake City to get the beautiful new temple clothes that he'll be buried in," Donny said.
Marie told of how she admired her father's integrity. He always taught her to be honest, but she said she didn't believe him when he said he couldn't change a diaper.
Then one day, she said, he was asked to baby-sit one of his grandkids while Olive ran to the store. The child filled his diaper and began to cry. George felt sorry for the boy and took him to the bathtub, maybe hoping to spray him off. When he undid the diaper and it fell off, George threw up in the tub.
"I'll never question his integrity again," Marie said. "He really couldn't change a diaper."
Together with his wife, Olive, he also founded the Salt Lake City-based Children's Miracle Network (formerly called the Osmond Foundation), a children's charity and alliance of hospitals that provide special care for children. He and Olive had lived in Provo since 1979. Son Alan Osmond said his father was a man of action and was a great example to his family.
"Everyone loved him," Alan said. "Even the fans called him father. He was a man of integrity and he lived the things he said." |
