Rev. Thomas L. Osborne, O.S.A. (1939 - 2022)

Rev. Thomas Lawrence Osborne, O.S.A., entered eternal life on December 1, 2022. He was 83 years old.

Thomas Lawrence Osborne was born on October 18, 1939, in Evergreen Park, Illinois, to Herbert and Genevieve Osborne. He was baptized on October 29, 1939, at the Church of St. Therese of the Infant Jesus (Little Flower) in Chicago, Illinois. He received the Sacrament of Confirmation at the same church on May 17, 1951.

Following graduation from Little Flower Grammar School in 1953, Thomas entered Mendel Catholic High School in Chicago, where he earned his diploma in 1957.

After completing postgraduate studies at St. Augustine Seminary in Holland, Michigan, Thomas was received into the Augustinian Novitiate in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, on September 4, 1958. He professed Simple (temporary) Vows in the Augustinian Order on September 5, 1959, and Solemn (permanent) Vows on September 5, 1962.

Upon completion of his Novitiate year, Thomas studied at Tolentine College in Olympia Fields, Illinois, earning a B.A. in Philosophy in 1963.  He also completed his theological studies at Tolentine College from 1963 to 1967. He was ordained a priest on November 21, 1966.

Father Osborne was assigned to Austin Catholic High School in Detroit, Michigan, where he taught and served as Athletic Director from 1967 to 1973. He then taught at St. Rita High School in Chicago from 1973 to 1975. In addition to his parochial ministries, he pursued graduate studies in Mathematics at DePaul University and in Religion at the University of Detroit.

Father Osborne ministered in several parishes: St. Clare of Montefalco, Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan (Associate Pastor, 1975-1979); St. Rita Parish, Racine, Wisconsin (Associate Pastor and Prior of the Augustinian Community, 1979-1980); St. Gregory Parish, Cambridge, Ontario (Pastor and Prior of the Augustinian Community, 1980-1987); Holy Rosary Parish, Kenosha, Wisconsin (Pastor and Prior of the Augustinian Community, 1987-1989); St. Joseph Parish, Pekin, Illinois (Pastor, 1989-1994), and St. Clare of Montefalco Parish, Grosse Pointe Park (Associate Pastor, 1994-1995).  In 1995, Father Osborne was assigned to the Augustinian Community at St. Jude Parish in New Lenox, Illinois, and served as Administrator of Mary, Queen of Heaven Parish in Elmhurst, Illinois.

In 1996, he was asked to start a new parish in a growing area now known as Homer Glen, Illinois. He became the founding pastor of Our Mother of Good Counsel Parish there. The following year he was named Superior of the Augustinian Community at Our Mother of Good Counsel. He continued to hold both of these posts until June 2006.

Father Osborne was named prior of St. Nicholas of Tolentine Monastery in Olympia Fields in 2006. When Tolentine Monastery closed in 2010, he moved to St. Jude Parish in New Lenox, Illinois, where he was semi-retired and provided various priestly ministries as needed at St. Jude and other parishes and institutions.

In 2011, Father Osborne was assigned to Bl. Stephen Bellesini Friary in Lemont, Illinois, where he assisted in the care of elderly and infirm Augustinian friars there. 

Beginning in 2012, he resided with the Augustinian community at Our Mother of Good Counsel Rectory, Homer Glen, where he remained until 2022.

Father Osborne moved to Assisted Living at St. Anthony Home in Crown Point, Indiana, in September 2022.  He was taken to the hospital on November 29 after suffering a fall, and he was found to have several infections in major organs unrelated to the fall. 

On December 1, 2022, Father Osborne entered eternal life.

Father Osborne is buried in the Augustinian plot at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.