Obituary of Ralph "Oz" H. Osgood III

Ralph H. “Oz” Osgood, 61, of Middleton, MA, died peacefully on Wednesday evening at his home surrounded by his family after a 10 year battle with ALS. He was the devoted husband of Josie (Crowley) Osgood. Oz was born in Peabody on August 6, 1950 the son of the late Ralph and Nancy (Lynch) Osgood and was raised and resided here before moving to Middleton 25 years ago. He was educated at St. John’s Grammar School and Bishop Fenwick High School of Peabody. Also at North Shore Community College and UMass Amherst. Oz was a licensed Construction Supervisor and was self-employed in the construction industry since 1978. He also worked at Bishop Fenwick High School from 1980 -1984 where he was Dean of Students, Plant Manager, Project Adventure teacher and a member of the football staff. Ralph made friends easily including his many former customers of Osgood Construction and the six good friends for whom he served as ‘best man.” He really enjoyed the outdoors doing skiing, camping and road running. He completed 9 Marathons, 7 of which were Boston in April. He also kayaked, canoed or rafted every white-water river in New England. He was a sports parachutist and a certified scuba diver and in his youth was a member of the Peabody Musketeers Drum and Bugle Corps. Oz was a communicant , lector and member of the Parish Council of St. Agnes Church, Middleton. He was active in youth sports, coaching basketball and softball and was a member of the Middleton Youth Baseball and Softball Association executive board, serving as Secretary and Treasurer. He was the Middleton representative to the Masconomet School Committee from 2003 until 2009. At Masconomet, both Java City, which he helped build and the School Committee meeting room are named in is honor. Of all his accomplishments, he is most proud of his blended family. He would like to thank some special friends who helped him greatly in dealing with his disease, Gigi Lorenzetti, Mark Hillner , Fr. John Mc Donough, Frank Leary, Starr Larsen, June Isabelle and Sue Roy of Merrimack Valley Hospice. He is survived by his wife Josie, his children and their spouses, John A. and Tricia Capobianco of Middleton, MA, Jodi Capobianco and her fiance, Mike Bell and their daughter Hazel Bell all of Bridgeton, ME, Katlyn and Jon Armstrong of Hamilton, Elizabeth F. Osgood and Erin T. Osgood both of Middleton, a brother David Osgood of Peabody, his sisters, Lori-Anne Creighan of Lynn, Linda Crist of Peabody and Nancy Seward of Hamilton , his grandmother, Ruby Lynch of St. Petersburg, FL and many nieces and nephews. He was the brother of the late Patti Maguire. A Visitation will be held on Monday from 3:00 until 7:00 PM at the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home at the 82 Lynn St., Peabody facility. A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday at 11:00 AM at St. John the Baptist Church, 16 Church St., Peabody. Relatives and friends are kindly invited. Expressions of sympathy may be made to the Merrimack Valley Hospice, 360 Merrimack St., Lawrence, MA 01843 in his memory.