Robert "Bob" Osterman

Robert Vincent “Bob” Osterman was born on September 12, 1946, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Stanley Sterling “Fritz” and Catherine Nora (Brennan) Osterman. Bob passed away November 21, 2023, at the Highland Park Care Center in Alliance, Nebraska, and was interred with military honors in the Nebraska Veterans Cemetery located in Alliance on June 7. 2024.

Bob moved with his parents to Kilgore, Cherry County, Nebraska, in 1947. He grew up there and attended school in Kilgore, graduating from Kilgore Public High School in 1964.

On April 26, 1965, Bob enlisted in the US Army. He went through his Basic Combat Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. On July 2, 1965, he began his Advanced Individual Training in Fort Leonard Wood. Upon completion of his training, he began duties on September 23, 1965, as a Personnel Records Specialist, continuing to be stationed at Fort Leonard Wood. On December 27, 1966, he was transferred to the 528th US Army Artillery Group, 7th Army, USAREUR, and stationed in Turkey, where he served as a Personnel Specialist and then as a Personnel Management Specialist from July 27, 1967, until his transfer to the US Army Transfer Station located in Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, New York, and his early release as an overseas returnee on January 27, 1968. Bob was then in the Standby Reserve with the USAR Control Group, Saint Loius, Missouri, until the expiration of his term of service on April 27, 1971. He was honorably discharged with the rank of Specialist 4 and had been awarded the National Defense Service Medal and Expert (Rifle) and during his active duty.

After the completion of his active duty in the US Army, Bob lived and worked in Long Beach, California, and Colorado Springs, Colorado, before returning to Kilgore. Nebraska, in 1972. Back in Cherry County, Bob worked as a ranch hand for his family’s ranch operation, the Osterman Cattle Company, for four years, and then for Rothleutner Herefords of Kilgore, Nebraska, until 1978, when he relocated to Grant County, Nebraska, where he met Marvel Anthony. They were married on December 15, 1978, had one child, Marie, on March 13, 1980, and had been married just short of 45 years when he passed away.

Bob worked on the Hayward Ranch in Grant County for 27 years before moving into Hyannis, Nebraska, in 2005, due to failing health with the onset of Parkinson’s Disease. He eventually needed to be moved to the Pioneer Memorial Nursing Home, Mullen, Nebraska, in 2018, and then, with the closing of the nursing home in Mullen, on to Highland Park Care Center in 2022.

While able, Bob enjoyed the outdoors, fishing, hunting and playing cards. He also was active in the local Roman Catholic Church, American Legion and Knights of Columbus.