William "Bill" Curt Osswald

Bill Osswald passed away peacefully on December 16, 2024, at the Life Care Center of Longmont. He was born August 29, 1937, in Cincinnati, OH, the middle son of Julie (Layer) and William Osswald, who had immigrated from Germany in 1928. He attended Mariemont High School, where he excelled in both academics and sports. Following graduation, he attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on a Navy ROTC scholarship; he earned a BS in Building Construction and subsequently spent four years in the Navy, serving on two destroyers and a submarine.

While stationed in Long Beach, CA, he met and fell in love with fellow Ohioan Laura Prugh Johnson. Following their wedding on September 1, 1963, in Dayton, OH, the couple headed to Boston, where Bill earned his MBA at the Harvard Business School. He eventually served as VP of Marketing for multiple trucking companies, moving his family across the country a few times over: from New York to Philadelphia to Oakland, CA, to Detroit, and finally to Boulder.

Shortly after arriving in Boulder, Bill learned that three of his high school classmates (out of a class of fewer than 100 students) also lived in the area. This led to many years of fun gatherings, adventures, and reunions in Cincinnati; Charleston, SC; Charlottesville, VA; and Boulder and Grand Junction.

In 1987, Bill left the corporate world and returned to his "roots" when he bought Creative Productions, where he spent 30 years designing and building exhibits and displays for trade shows, with Laura working by his side. Bill loved rooting for the Rockies, Broncos, and Buffs and hiking the trails in and around Boulder, but his true passion was designing and building–it wasn't work to him; it was a hobby.

In retirement, Bill discovered that two of the Navy ships he had served on had become museums. The USS Cassin Young, a destroyer, is in the Boston Harbor, and the USS Razorback, a submarine, is in the Arkansas River at Little Rock. It was so very special to have the opportunity to revisit and tour both of these ships.

Bill is survived by his wife, Laura, and two children: daughter Mary Sanford and husband Will, son William (Bill) Osswald and wife Stephanie; and four grandchildren: Ben and Charlotte Sanford and Mackenzie and Harper Osswald; sisters-in-law Frances Chase Montgomery and Janice Osswald Mehallick; nieces and nephews Teresa Clanton (Jim), Pamela Jungkunz (Owen Bunthoff), William Osswald (Rachel), Amy Dreesbach (Scott), Steve Chase (Erin), Colin Chase, and Alex Chase (Ann Guy).

Bill was preceded in death by his two brothers, Walter Carl Osswald and Eugene Frederick Osswald, and sister-in-law Helen Johnson Grout.

Bill will be buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made, in appreciation for his exceptional Hospice care, to TRU Community Care, 2594 Trailridge Drive East, Lafayette, CO 80026, or to the Alzheimer's Association.