Seth Nolan Osborn

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On Tuesday, June 2, 2020 the world lost two incredible boys. Seth, aged 8 and Ezra, aged 10. The future needed these kids. Their loss will be felt forever.

Seth Nolan Osborn was born on September 22, 2011 in Salt Lake City, Utah. From an early age, Seth’s mind was full of uncanny wonder and perception. At three, he asked, “Where do gods come from?” More recently, he wrote an essay on “How to Eat an Orange Mindfully” that begins with holding an orange in your hands, turning its weight, peeling it slowly, and inhaling its scent. Language fascinated him. He loved grammar and pointing out grammatical misuses and the mistakes he overheard in others’ speech. He also loved telling jokes, such as: a fish swims into a wall. What does it say? He had a wry sense of humor and felt the tremendous power of words.

Seth worked hard to master what didn’t come easy. Wanting to draw tanks well, he spent hours drawing and redrawing over two hundred army tanks. He later moved on to draw battle scenes and create his own comics and illustrated stories. He drew mining birds wearing hard-hats and using picks and shovels to extract gold and diamonds. At other times, he drew historical battles, using nation-states as characters, complete with flags, maps, and staged-battles.

If he was not making books, he was reading them. Seth read widely, often finding information in the books perfect for mischief, like the time he ended up calling the White House because the number was listed in the picturebook Big Plans. Seth had an amazing recall ability for lines in books and movies, which led to a game the three called “Who Said What Where” in which one called out a line and the other two competed to see who could identify it first. “You almost moved me that time,” from Roller Girl, or “Typical” from BabyMouse, and many others. He loved playing lego and creating stop motion pictures. He’d wear his good suit when playing FBI with his friends, to the point of wearing holes in the knees of his suit pants. He was always up for a nerf gun battle, water fight, or harmless mischief. Seth will be remembered by his friends as someone who made them laugh with his silly faces and jokes. He loved his friends, his family, and his teachers. He played soccer as a member of “Utah Glory.” He played the violin in his school’s orchestra. He loved the local library.

Seth was kind and insightful. He was extremely loving and caring. Even in the midst of hard family moments, Seth remained aware of his mother, making her tea, leaving her notes, drawing her pictures. He often said to her, Mom, I think you need a hug. When it came to hugs, his arms were always open wide.

Both Ezra and Seth loved books. They loved reading them, making them, sharing them, talking about them, and quoting from them. They also read Boys Life magazine, memorizing and quoting the jokes from the back page first.

They attended school at Mountain West Montessori Academy. Seth had just completed second-grade. Ezra had just completed fourth. They are survived by their mother Sandra Elizabeth Ang Béjar who exposed them to this big, beautiful world and its cultures through both books and their extensive travel. Together, they traveled to Denmark and Finland in Europe, to Saint Martin, Haiti, Cozumel, Belize, and Honduras in the Carribean, to Baja California and Mexico. In the U.S., they visited San Diego, Miami, Yellowstone, Boulder, Boston, and places in North Carolina and Georgia.

Sandra also exposed them to the world right here at home in the Salt Lake Valley. Family holidays involved traditions from other countries and religions. Everything Sandra did with Ezra and Seth was done with thoughtfulness, planning, and care. She mothered with a generosity of spirit. She misses them deeply, as will the world.

Ezra and Seth are survived by many loving aunts, uncles, grandparents, teachers at Mountain West Montessori, and their friends in and out of the Daybreak community.
A private memorial service for family and close friends only will be held Monday, June 8th. A public celebration of life for the boys will take place on June10th with more details to follow.

Family and friends have organized a Wish Tree located in Orchard Park in Daybreak at the intersection of Indigo Sky Way and Mille-Lacs, for those who wish to leave messages to Seth and Ezra.

Sandra and her family wish to thank so many people who have poured their love and resources to help us manage this tragedy. In particular to Camille Brinton, Linsey Hseih, Emily Barker, Michelle MacFarlane, Amanda Brown, the Moreno family, the University of Utah Department of English/Creative Writing, members of the Eastlake Community, and countless others who have supported the GoFund me fund, with cleaning, meals, and words of encouragement and love. Thank you for sharing your strength at this difficult time.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to The Peregrine House Foundation. Contact Emily Dyer at 760-473-7291 if interested.