Osmond goodbye: Family shares memories of father

PROVO — Four of George Osmond's sons began singing in the 1950s to raise money for hearing aids for their two deaf older brothers.

Fifty years and 51 gold records later, the Osmond Brothers and sister Marie have sold 77 million records. But their father had recently grown increasingly lonely without their mother, Olive, who died three years ago.

"I'm not happy," George Osmond told his son Wayne three times in the past few weeks.

"It just hurt my heart," Wayne said. "All three times, I prayed to Heavenly Father he would make my father happy, and he did. He's back with my mom."

George Osmond was honored Friday during funeral services attended by nearly 500 people. He died Tuesday at age 90 of natural causes.

He had been looking forward to Thursday when he and his nine children, 53 grandchildren and 44 great-grandchildren were going to appear on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to celebrate 50 years of Osmonds in show business.

The family decided the show must go on in honor of George Osmond. After taping the hourlong program in Chicago on Thursday, the entire family flew back to Utah for the funeral. "Oprah and the Osmonds" aired Friday afternoon, less than an hour after the family left the gravesite of the patriarch of one of America's most famous entertainment families.

The family's continuing star power was evident on both days. On "Oprah," Marie Osmond danced with partner Jonathan Roberts from the hit show "Dancing with the Stars." Winfrey noted that the Osmonds are planning a reunion tour in the United Kingdom in the spring. Tickets for the show at famous Wembley Stadium sold out in one hour. And PBS will air an Osmonds 50th anniversary special in March.

Roberts also attended the funeral, where all nine children — Virl, Tom, Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, Donny, Marie and Jimmy — shared the stand in the chapel with 40 flower arrangements, then one-by-one stood at the pulpit and shared glimpses of their father's life.

They also sang. With Virl and Tom using sign language, the Osmonds adopted a tune they traditionally sang for their mother: "I wouldn't trade the silver in my (father's) hair for all the gold in the world."

The Osmond 2nd Generation — Merrill's eight sons, minus one serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — sang "I May Never Pass This Way Again."

George Osmond married Olive Davis in 1944. "They kept on having boys," Virl Osmond said, "and my mother just wanted one girl, so they had nine kids."