11/12/2025
At 4 p.m. on March 18, 2000, in the Osborne Public Library, an organizational meeting for those interested in volunteering to fundraise and erect an Osborne County Veterans Memorial on the courthouse lawn in Osborne, Kansas. Veterans Bill Cady and Richard Linton, along with Deanna Roach, Von Rothenberger, and others, formed the Osborne County Veterans Memorial Committee that day. They met several times over the next few months to finalize plans and to design what the Memorial would look like.
On the first of June 2000 the committee announced that the Memorial would be "to the memory of all veterans who called Osborne County their home from the War of 1812 to the present day." It was to be built of Nigerian black granite and American grey granite with an obelisk reaching 8.5 feet in height. The Memorial was to feature emblems of the six major branches of military service, along with the words "ALL GAVE SOME - SOME GAVE ALL", It would weigh over 7,000 pounds. Richard Linton of Stambach Memorials of Osborne would build the memorial at an estimated cost of $23,000. The money for the project was to come from donations. A completion and dedication target date of November 11, 2000 - Veterans Day - was selected.
At first money only trickled in. By July 29th just over $2,000 had been raised. This became a concern initially, as so much money was needed by a certain time to guarantee that the materials for the Memorial could be bought and paid for in time to make the target date. Of real worry was that the black Nigerian granite had to be ordered, cut, then shipped over the Atlantic Ocean on a six-week voyage just to reach the United States.
By August 31st $8,800 had been raised. Then by September 7th the amount was at $10,200. By September 28th $18,307 had come in, and by October 5th $20, 277. had been donated. By October 26th the fund's amount reached $22,867. Overall $24,000 was raised, surpassing the $23,000 ceiling.
Of great help in the fundraising efforts were the donations by Farmers National Bank of Osborne of $1000 and by the VFW Auxiliary 7743 of $1,100. The completed Memorial was erected the week before November 11th.
Veterans Day 2000 dawned in Osborne with an ice storm. Dedication plans were swiftly changed and the entire proceedings were moved inside to the third floor courtroom. The American Legion Color Guard manned the jury box and "at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day" the proceedings began. The Osborne High School Band took up residence in the outside corridor, and every time that they placed the sound echoed out of the building and across the entire city.
Special speakers for the dedication were Kansas State Representative Laura McClure of Osborne; former national commander of the Sons of the Union Veterans Dean Speaks of Beloit KS; and former World War II prisoner-of-war and Osborne County native Dr. William Delbert Paschal of Wichita KS. American Legion Department Commander Dave Warnken officially dedicated the Memorial.
A second phase of the project was the gathering of pertinent information of any past and present veterans who ever called Osborne County home. In the end well over 4,000 names were collected, and the Osborne County Veterans Book can be seen in the Osborne Public Library and in the Osborne County Clerk's Office.
A big Thank You! to veterans Bill Cady and Richard Linton, along with Deanna Roach, Von Rothenberger, and others who formed the Osborne County Veterans Memorial Committee and all their work to see it finished.
Image of the Memorial was taken in November 2025 and is courtesy of Laura McClure.
