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Carole Mikita and Tom Callan reportingGeorge Osmond, patriarch of the famous Utah singing family, was laid to rest this afternoon.
It's a very serene setting where George Osmond is buried: on a hill, overlooking the city and Utah Lake, beside his beloved wife Olive who passed away in 2004.
It was a day to pay honor, a day to remember happier times, and also with the Osmonds, of course, a day of music.
Hundreds of family members paid tribute to the patriarch. Each of his nine children spoke remembering his guidance, his vision, and his integrity.
President Thomas S. Monson of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke. He was a close associate with the Osmonds. He called them great missionaries throughout the world. Donnie Osmond said of his father, he did not have an enemy in the world. His last words to his son were, "I love you."
Marie called herself "daddy's little girl." He lived for his family, she said.
George Osmond was born in 1917 and served in World War II in London during the bombings. When he came home, he met and married Olive. He loved barber shop harmony; that's where it all began.
His son and grandson say he will be greatly missed. Jimmy Osmond, George's son, said, "He was an amazing man. He was known by people everywhere around the world, but you know what, he always took time for everyone, treated everybody the same."
David Osmond said, "My grandpa is everybody's hero in our family. He was the patriarch, he was King George. And we miss him dearly. It's a bitter sweet day."
His nine children paid tribute to him by singing a song. The two older brothers, who are deaf, signed as the seven younger sang, "I Wouldn't Trade the Silver in My Father's Hair for All the Gold in the World."
Seven of his grandson's also sang together. They sang, "I May Never Pass This Way Again." And here at the cemetery, they sang a song about families; and to hear all of the Osmonds sing was a very, very moving moment. He will be remembered for a great long time because of his legacy.
A family friend remembers living in Sweden when she first heard Donnie and Marie. She says the music gave her a special confidence to share her LDS faith.
"As a Mormon, it meant to me that I wasn't alone and that there was someone out there that was our face for our church and that supported our faith," she explained.
She delivered red roses and white flowers to the stake center here on North Temple Drive in Provo. "I love the family for the work they did for us," she said.
Ninety-year-old George Osmond died Tuesday at his Provo home of natural causes.
