Obituary of Shirley C Osborn

SHIRLEY COOPER OSBORN of West Caldwell, NJ passed away at the age of 94 on January 22nd, 2025 at the Skilled Nursing unit of Crane’s Mill in West Caldwell.

Shirley was born on December 21st, 1930 and was raised in Montclair, NJ attending and graduating from Montclair High School. She attended Wells College in Aurora, NY where she received her Bachelor of Arts Degree and attended Columbia University in New York City where she received her Master’s degree in education. From 1954 to 1956 she was a teacher at Mount Hebron Elementary School in Montclair and married the late Paul Albert Osborn of Montclair on June 30th of 1956. Her interest in early childhood education let her to eventually teach in the nursery school program at Union Congregational Church in Upper Montclair enjoying the opportunity to teach many of her own student’s children during her very long tenure there from 1974 to 1994.

Shirley was a docent at the Montclair Art Museum guiding the classes of young children touring the museum and was honored with their Volunteer of the Year Award in 2007. She was also a lifetime member of the Union Congregational Church community and served as a Sunday School teacher, Deaconess, Usher, as well as a member of the church’s Worship Committee. She was the loving mother of her three boys involving herself with all of their activities including Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. She greatly loved spending time with her family and friends at her vacation home in Christmas Cove Maine. Shirley was a member of the Commonweath Club in Montclair for 43 years and an avid bowler, as well as a member of the Upper Montclair Country Club for 25 years where she was a passionate golf enthusiast.

Shirley was a dedicated wife to her late husband Paul for 50 years up to his passing in 2007 and left behind her three sons John Paul Osborn and his wife Susan of Dunellen, NJ; Mark Albert Osborn and his wife Rebecca of Nachtoches, LA and Bristol, ME; and Matthew Cooper Osborn and his wife Susan of Woodstock, GA; as well as her sister Carol and her husband Dr. William Henry of Cohasset, MA. She also leaves behind her grandchildren David, Crystal, Katherine (and her husband Laurence), Christopher, Elizabeth (and her fiancé Kate), Kelsey, Jessica and three great grandchildren Preston, Jacob and Caleb, as well as numerous nephews and nieces.

A memorial service for friends and family will be held at Union Congregational Church at 176 Cooper Avenue in Upper Montclair on Friday, January 31st at 10:00am with a private burial for family at Mount Hebron Cemetery to follow the service. Family and friends are invited to a repast from 3:00 to 5:00pm at the Dunellen Hotel, 120 North Washington Avenue in Dunellen, NJ. In holding with Shirley’s love of Union Congregational Church, the family requests that donations in her memory be made to the church or to your favorite charity.