CLASS OF 1886

Walter Franklin Osborne died at his home in Gloucester, Mass., October 8, following an operation.

He was the son of Adelbert and Elizabeth (Towle) Osborne, and was born in Bradford, Vt., September 18, 1864.

After graduation he entered newspaper work in connection with the Springfield Republican. In 1890 he removed to Gloucester and became the representative of the BostonHerald. In 1912 he was appointed collector of customs of the port of Gloucester, but in the following year the office was abolished by a general consolidation of offices through the country. For some time he had been manager of the Harbor View Hotel.

The following is taken from the Gloucester Daily Times: "He was elected to the Common Council from Ward One in 1903, and was elected president of that body, serving with great credit during the year and winning the respect and esteem of his associates by his fairness and courtesy in his decisions and his treatment of the members during the deliberations of the board. He declined a re-election the following year. He was a man of good judgment, and faithful to the responsibilities in his career as a truespirited public official. Mr. Osborne was a man of marked urbanity and poise, a dignified, courteous gentleman of refinement, moderate in speech and action, within a repressed exterior hiding a love of companionship which he unfolded to his intimates. He brought to his newspaper labors here a poise and clarity of writing which has left its mark on local journalism. His conduct of the office of collector of the port, entered upon at a time of particular political stress, a position, by the way, entirely unsought by himself and absolutely handed to him at a time when customs problems with Canada were never more vexing, brought out the best there was in him. As a hotel manager, he was courteous and obliging, kindly spirited, and thoroughly interested in his work, being associated with his wife, who was Mrs. Harriet C. (Brazier) Osborne, in conducting the Harbor View Hotel, one of the oldest hostelries in Gloucester. He had been ill about two weeks, but the news of his death comes as a surprise and shock to his many friends, as his critical condition was not generally known. An operation for cancer of the stomach was performed on October 3."