My uncle, Kenneth Osborne, who has died aged 84, was an extraordinary uncle to have. He was a talented musician who missed out on pursuing his dream because of mental illness.
Ken was born in Alfreton, Derbyshire, to George Osborne, a bricklayer and Beatrice (nee Mills), a teacher. They moved to Birmingham when Ken was four in search of work.
Ken went to Bournville junior school and then trained as a draughtsman at technical college. He grew into a talented and handsome young man. His great gift was music, his main instrument being the saxophone. Ken played the sax so softly, and could wander easily all over the notes, in the modern jazz style that he loved.
Ken went to Aden in 1950 for his military service with the RAF, serving for three years. He enjoyed his time there but after his return he was diagnosed as schizophrenic. Ken’s illness was such that he couldn’t hold down a job or pursue his talent. He had begun to be noticed, playing on the radio and having offers of work from the leaders of the big jazz bands of the day. It all stopped.
Ken was in and out of mental hospital for a period, his longest stay being four years. After my grandparents’ deaths in the early 2000s, Ken lived at the old family home in Selly Oak on his own with the support of my mother, Lyn, who was 16 years younger than him. He lived as he chose, which meant the house fell into chaos, but he kept the garden neat, trimming the lawn with a pair of shears into his 80s. Ken would come to our house for visits, greeting the cats, playing the piano and smoking his pipe.
Ken was sometimes mistaken for a tramp. He was unkempt, with old clothes he wouldn’t change, and he would pick things up off the street to take home. Some people who saw him were abusive, some were kind. None of them knew, however, what an intelligent, talented and gentle man he was. The effects of mental illness can be all we see. Ken never saw himself as anything much. He was completely unaware that he was the remarkable, gifted member of the family.
He is survived by Lyn, his nephew, James, and me.
