Richard “Dick” Wallace Osksa June 16, 1929 – October 03, 2018 Share this obituary Send Flowers View/Sign Guest Book| Send Private Condolences| Send Sympathy Card Funeral Services for Richard “Dick” Osksa will be 11AM Thursday, October 11th, 2018 at the Immanuel Lutheran Church with Pastor Marlow Carrels officiating. Interment will follow at Emmaus Cemetery. Richard Osksa, 89 died at Sheridan hospital in Plentywood.
Fulkerson Funeral Home of Plentywood has charge of services: read or print the complete obituary, post remembrances, and send cards and flowers online at www. fulkersonsplentywood.com Richard Wallace Osksa was born June 16th, 1929 to Henry and Hilda (McCauley) Osksa. He was a 1947 graduate of Westby High School and a lifelong resident of the Westby community until he moved to the Pioneer Manor in 2014 where he resided until his passing.
After graduation, he briefly attended Montana State University and then went to barber school in Spokane, Washington. His sons did not always appreciate having a barber in the house. Richard was always a farmer and actually started driving tractor as a boy before he was strong enough to turn the tractor, but he found that by using a block of wood on the pedals, he could then apply all his strength to the wheel to make the corner.
He saw many changes in the farming operations throughout his lifetime. His father was an immigrant from Latvia who farmed with oxen and built a sod house on the home place where Richard and Jo settled their family. In his later life, Richard farmed with machinery that could practically drive themselves.
When Richard wasn’t farming, his favorite pastime was attending auction sales. During the winter months, Richard would find work in Great Falls where his sister Lorain lived. It was while working at Buttrey’s that he met his future wife.
Richard married Jo Davey on June 27th, 1950. They spent all their married lives farming, raising their five children, and then watching the grandchildren arrive. After Jo passed away in 1997, Westby winters were long and lonesome, so Richard purchased a motor home and drove it south for sixteen winters to Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
He made many friends at the campground. Richard was a stoic, soft-spoken man of few words, so when he spoke, people would listen. He spent many years as chairman of the Westby school board and served on the board of Security State Bank in Plentywood from 1986-1996.
He also helped his community as a founding member of the Westby Lions Club and later joined the Elks, Moose, and Eagles organizations. Richard was fortunate to know not only his children, but also his grandchildren and his great grandchildren. He was a faithful supporter of the Youth Livestock Auction at the Sheridan County Fair where he purchased several hogs and lambs of his grandchildren and would most often donate the lamb back and have it be resold to benefit all Sheridan County 4-H members.
Richard waged a valiant battle with cancer this last year to gain more time to spend with all his friends at the Pioneer Manor and to be able to watch his grandchildren play sports their final year of high school. Even though he beat the cancer, a stroke took his life on Oct. 3rd, 2018.
He is preceded in death by his wife Jo, his son Scott, grandson Simon Massine, his parents, his sister Lorain, and his brother Orville. Richard is survived by four children: Tanya Brist (Glen) of Kalispell, Peggy Lagerquist (Lynden) of Westby, Shawn (Shannon) of Westby, Casey (Dona) of Plentywood; seven grandchildren: Gabriel and Graham Massine, Rob (Tess) and Laura Brist, Brady, Brenna and Bryce Osksa; four great grandchildren: Madison, Emma, Naomi, and Garrett Brist, as well as several cousins, nieces, nephews, and many friends and neighbors. The family requests that memorials be made to the Emmaus Cemetery, Quality Transit or the Sheridan Memorial Hospital Foundation.
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