FRANKLIN
Lana Lou Osterman, 80, of Franklin, passed away on January 11, 2022. She was born on May 18, 1941 in Hazleton, Indiana to the late Hobart and Freda Colvin.
She was a member of Mt. Auburn United Methodist Church, prior member of Kiwanis Club of Southport acting as secretary for two years and volunteered at food pantries. During her 27 year tenure employed at University of Indianapolis, she held positions as secretary to the Business Manager and administrative assistant to two of their former Presidents. Lana retired in 2003 holding the position of Director at the Christal DeHann Center for Arts. She earned her Bachelors of Art in English from U Indy with Cum Laude distinction.
She is survived by her husband of 52 years, Louis H. Osterman, Jr.; children, Deb (Jim) Howson and Richard (Samantha) McMinn; 7 grandchildren, Jacob, Justun, Tabatha, Ryder, Nathan, Molly and Josh. 4 great grandchildren; and brothers, Burt Colvin and Boyd Colvin.
Introduced to the existence of poetry and nature’s beauty as expressed through one’s heart by her grandmother, Estelle Steelman Ellis, writing poetry became a necessity, at times an urgency, and was one of her greatest passions. Acquiring a healthy list of honors, accolades and awards, Lana was a three time winner of the Lucy Brooker Munro Award for Excellence, recipient of 1997 Connection Fellowship in Poetry from the Mary Anderson Center for the Arts, repeatedly published in the “Flying Island”, a literary Journal of Indiana Writers Center, winner of the city-wide “Poetry on the Bus” competition in 1990, recipient of the Dorlis Gott Armetrout Award for best student submission, and Inducted in the National Collegiate Society, Alpha Chi.
In 1995, an article about Lana was published in Woman’s World magazine concerning her decision to place her mother in a nursing home. The article was powerful, generated interest and caught the eye of local columnist, John Shaughnessy. Shaughnessy subsequently published an article about Lana in the Indianapolis Star highlighting her accomplishments, and the 17 years it took her to achieve her goals and acquire her degree, one class at a time. Her belief that learning is lifelong and her love of U Indy is well known among her friends and family.
Visitation will be from 9:30 AM until the service time at 11:30 AM, Saturday, January 22, 2022 at G.H. Herrmann Greenwood Funeral Home, 1605 S. State Road 135, Greenwood. Burial will be at Forest Lawn Memory Gardens.
In lieu of flowers, please consider memorial contributions be made to the Inter-Church Food Pantry of Johnson County, 211 Commerce Drive, Franklin, IN., or simply read one of Lana’s poems.
You are welcome to share memories, photographs and online condolences with the family at www.ghherrmann.com
