Nathan Royal Osterbur
1983-2003
Nathan Royal Osterbur was born on August 11, 1983, in Chicago. The son of Pastor Barry R. and Elaine D. Osterbur, Nathan's older brother is Stefan and his older sister is Rachel. Nathan was baptized on October 16, 1983, at St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Midlothian, by his father who was pastor there. His god-parents are Bruce Baxter and Jane Baxter. Nathan later received his first communion at Cross Lutheran Church as a second grader, and he confirmed his faith there in May, 1994, when he was in eighth grade.
Nathan's first school experience was at the St. Stephen
Pre-School, which made a short field trip to watch the
moving van when the Osterburs came to Clinton Township,
exactly 16 years ago this week. Nathan attended Erie
Elementary School, Wyandot Middle School, and then Chippewa
Valley High School, from which he graduated in 2001. While
growing up Nathan loved baseball, playing in the Clinton
Valley Little League program, the Mt. Clemens Federation
baseball club, and eventually for the varsity of CVHS.
Nathan also enjoyed student government, and was active in
that for four years.
Nathan got his first cello when he was four years old, and he began taking lessons from Charlene Madill of Rochester. He later became a student of Richard Piippo of Troy, and then Deb Fayroian, also of Troy. Nathan played for eight years with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony, and seven years with the Amadeus Piano Trio, which included John Boonenberg (pianist) and Zack Stachowski (violinist), and for a time, Benjamin Wang (violinist). The Trio's coaches included both Mr. Piippo and Ms. Fayroian. In 2001 the Trio was the Grand Prize winner in the state competition for the MASTA Chamber Music competition.
Nathan was currently in his sophomore year as a cello performance major at Valparaiso University, in Valparaiso, IN. He was in the school's symphony orchestra and also in various chamber performance groups. He was a cello student of Daniel Morgenstern of Chicago. Recently Nathan became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. It was at Valpo's Athletic and Recreation Center that Nathan suffered a massive head injury from a fall, on Wednesday, February 19. He was taken to the Porter Memorial Hospital where he remained in critical condition for several days with a fractured skull. When the brain swelling became even more severe, it caused his heart to fail, and he died shortly after 11:00pm on Sunday, February 23, 2003. Nathan was of age 19 years, six months, and twelve days.
Nathan is survived by his parents, Elaine and Barry Osterbur, of Clinton Township, and his siblings, Stefan, of Royal Oak (Stefan's fiancée is Nicole Dominowski, of Tennessee), and Rachel, of Chicago. He is further survived by his grandparents, Harry A. Davies of Toledo, and Frank H. & Helena Osterbur of Royal, IL. On his mother's side he has eleven cousins, and aunts and uncles who include Tom and Susan Davies of Pismo Beach, CA, and Dennis and Linda Davies of Linz, Austria. On his father's side he has eight cousins, and aunts and uncles who include Nancy Hinrichs of Lisbon, IA, and Bill and Kris Osterbur of Greenville, OH. Nathan is further survived by many friends, acquaintances, and peers who knew him and loved him.
After the services at St. Paul of Tarsus, all are invited to the Cross Fellowship Hall for a brief lunch. A memorial service is also planned for Friday, February 28, at the Chapel of the Resurrection at Valparaiso University. Burial will take place at the St. John Lutheran Cemetery in Royal, IL, later that day.
Blessed be the memory of Nathan Royal Osterbur.