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| Snapshots from the life of Jack Osborn: Photos
clockwise from upper left: Jack and Eleanor at daughter Jane's
wedding, 1974; Jack, without his usual coat and tie, along the
Yuba River, 1990s; Jack and Jane - Jane's doctoral ceremony,
1984; Jack (center) with other GE "interns" on field
'test' - 1937; Jack at his desk, GE, 1960s; Jack and granddaughter
Staci about 1985. |
John
F. Osborn (Jack), a long time IEEE--Nuclear and Plasma Sciences
Society member, died at the age of 91, on March 4, 2006, five days
after being hospitalized unexpectedly for pneumonia. Jack served
as the Editor in Chief of the IEEE-NPSS newsletter for 26 years
until 1994. He was involved with planning and attending various
society meetings, including serving as arrangements chairman at
one time. He was the recipient of the IEEE divisional professional
leadership award for outstanding service and leadership in 1992,
and the IEEE-NPSS Richard F. Shea distinguished member award in
1994. Jack was registered as a professional engineer in California
in three different disciplines: Electrical, Control Systems and
Nuclear Engineering. After retirement, Jack advocated for the California
Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (BPELS) to issue
a new category of license for “retired” electrical engineers.
He was the very first recipient of the new “retired”
license in 2001 after he elected to “retire” his California
electrical engineering license--although he continued to hold his
active Nuclear Engineer license.
Jack worked for General Electric Company for 45 years, before retiring
in 1983. He held many positions within that company, including control
design engineering (until 1947), supervising a small group doing
engineering and manufacturing of control equipment (until 1951),
and heading up a local GE office in northern California until the
company discontinued all local offices in 1955. He held a marketing
assignment which included managing GE’s relationship with
Bechtel Corporation as a customer until 1961--which he especially
enjoyed. Subsequently, he held assignments in systems engineering
and project management at the GE Nuclear Energy Division in San
Jose, California until retirement in 1983. At one point, he traveled
throughout California to do presentations to local organizations
on GE’s contribution to the development of nuclear power.
During this period, he was teamed with Bechtel Corporation to partner
in the development of nuclear power plants. In the 60’s, Jack
was offered a position with the Atomic Energy Commission in Maryland.
However, he chose to stay in California and remain with GE. Jack
commented on the fact that engineers of his generation tended to
stay with one company and change assignments within the company,
whereas more recent generations of engineers are more likely to
change companies.
Jack was born in 1914 in Montmartre, Saskatchewan, Canada. His father
was a banker manager who was transferred frequently to small towns
throughout Saskatchewan, and Jack grew up in these towns. He graduated
from the University of Manitoba with a degree in electrical engineering
in 1936. He then went to work for General Electric, and moved to
the site of the Canadian GE headquarters in Peterborough, Ontario,
Canada. In Peterborough, he met Eleanor Stacey, who was to become
his wife of 63 years until the time of her death in July 2003. Jack
and Eleanor met at a tennis tournament in which they both were playing.
They were married in 1940, and continued to live in Peterborough
until 1948. Their son John and daughter Jane were born during this
time.
During World War II, Jack designed the electrical controls for the
minesweepers used by the Canadian Navy. While in Canada, Jack also
was involved with designing the electrical controls for the Abegweit,
a car ferry which was the largest ship ever built in Canada at that
time--and which was in service from 1947 until 1982.
Jack was attracted to the more temperate marine climate of the San
Francisco Bay area in California, and in 1948 he accepted a job
with GE in San Francisco. His family moved to Piedmont, across the
Bay from SF. Eleanor was a pianist and organist, and she joined
the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and then
founded the Piedmont branch of the SF Conservatory, and taught many
piano students over the years.
Jack moved to San Jose, California in 1963, after accepting a position
with GE’s Nuclear Energy Division in SJ. He lived in San Jose
for 28 years, before he and Eleanor moved to Sacramento in 1991
in order to be closer to their grandchildren, Staci and Mike Osborn--who
currently are both college students. Jack was a devoted and proud
father to both of his children, son John Osborn, M.D., a plastic
and reconstructive surgeon in Sacramento, California, and daughter
Jane Osborn, Ph.D., a developmental and school psychologist living
in the Mountain View and Los Altos, California area.
Both Jack and Eleanor shared an interest in life-long learning and
in staying mentally active. In the early 1970s, Jack was making
plans to attend law school at night -- while continuing to work
full time, but these plans were derailed due to an unexpected health
crisis. He continued to work full time until finally retiring at
the age of 69, after experiencing a second health crisis. After
retirement, Jack continued to work as Editor in Chief of the NPSS
newsletter until he was 80 years old, and continued to contribute
to the newsletter as Editor Emeritus for a few more years into his
80’s. After retirement, Jack enrolled as a graduate student
and took several creative writing classes at two different California
State University campuses--in both San Jose and Sacramento. During
this time, Eleanor also took classes at San Jose State University--in
art history--and she was a volunteer docent at the San Jose Museum
of Art for several years, in addition to continuing to teach piano
into her 80s and helping with fund raising activities to benefit
the San Jose Symphony, until she and Jack moved in 1991.
Writing was one of Jack’s primary interests, and he wrote
prodigiously, on diverse topics and for various purposes--including
expository and creative pieces, and including numerous letters written
to authors and politicians. He corresponded with such authors as
H.G. Wells, Sinclair Lewis, and Loren Eisley. One of the replies
he received from H.G. Wells during a period of ongoing correspondence
in the 1930's and early '40's included a carbon copy of an unpublished
piece Wells was working on in 1943, accompanied by a note asking
for Jack's feedback on the ideas expressed in the piece. In the
early 1960s, he wrote a lengthy letter on the topic of profit sharing
that was published in the Harvard Business Review. His favorite
writing project, however, was the memoir and commentary he wrote
regarding what life was like when he was growing up in the Canadian
prairie in the 1920s. He worked on this manuscript--titled “Prairie
Chronicles--Goodbye Pinto Creek” for several years. During
the time that he was taking creative writing classes at Sacramento
State, Jack received the 1995 Dominic J. Bazzanella Literary Award
in the “graduate, expository prose” category for a piece
he wrote based on a chapter from his Prairie Chronicles manuscript--”Requescat
for Dad D’Abel.” Jack also enjoyed attending meetings
of the California Writer’s Club--of which he was a member.
In addition, he always was an avid reader.
Jack was very handy and adept at designing, making and fixing things,
(which probably is not a surprising characteristic for an engineer).
He would usually order the technical manuals (the ones with the
circuit diagrams) for major appliances--and he could make an electrical
appliance last for several decades--well beyond its period of planned
obsolescence--through numerous home repairs. In particular, he enjoyed
wood working, and was very proficient at designing and making furniture
for his family, such as cabinets and desks. He and Eleanor were
from the “do it your self” frame of mind, and together
they completely remodeled and renovated their house in Piedmont.
The family became accustomed to living amidst chunks of plaster
and rolls of wallpaper for a number of years. Jack also greatly
enjoyed photography throughout his life, and would develop and enlarge
black and white photographs in his own makeshift darkrooms at home.
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| Jack and Eleanor with son John and granddaughter
Staci. |
For many decades, Jack had been a strong proponent of using nuclear
energy as a peace-time power source. He began writing and speaking
to groups on this topic as early as the mid 1950s. During a movement
in California to try to curtail the use of nuclear power (through
the California Nuclear Initiative which was on the ballot in1976),
Jack was active in speaking to groups and to individuals to try
to educate them to the benefits of nuclear power and to try to allay
any fears which he felt were unfounded. He would comment that if
there was ever a major earthquake, he felt that he would be best
off inside of a nuclear power plant.
Jack will be remembered fondly as an intelligent, talented, dignified,
kind and gentle person.
Jane Osborn can be reached at josborn@rcsd.k12.ca.us.
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