Melville W. (Mel) Osborne, age 99 of Hillsborough, NJ passed away peacefully Thursday March 3, 2022 at RWJ University Hospital Somerset following a brief illness. Born in Carteret, NJ, Melville grew up in Rahway, NJ. He had lived the last 59 years in Hillsborough, NJ.
He is survived by his wife Elsie (nee Eusebietti), son Melville C. and wife Deirdre Osborne of Sparta, NJ, daughter Ann and husband Timothy Nanneman of Lambertville, NJ, and son Colin Osborne and wife Bonnie of Middletown, NJ, as well as grandchildren Emily, Patrick, and Katie. He is predeceased by his brother Chester E. Osborne Jr, sister Lorraine Korman, and grandson Christopher Nanneman.
Son of the late Chester and Johanna (nee Hertel) Osborne, Mel attended Seton Hall Prep on a track scholarship, where he was a star high-jumper. After graduation, Mel served in the Coast Guard on a submarine chaser during WWII and then went on to attend the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Fort Schuyler at the war’s end. As a young man Mel traveled around the world on various merchant ships. After the Merchant Marines, Mel attended Drew University, earning a bachelors degree in biology. He then went on to Princeton University, where he earned a PhD in physiology under the mentorship of Dr. Wilbur Swingle, renowned for developing a treatment for Addison’s Disease.
Mel had a fruitful career in the pharmaceutical industry, working first for Warner Lambert and then as section head of cardiovascular pharmacology at Hoffman La Roche in Nutley, NJ. He was the author of numerous scientific papers. Mel retired in 1983 from Roche with the title of Distinguished Research Fellow.
Mel was an amateur lepidopterist, a hobby he was passionate about. A one-time president of the Newark Entomological Society, Mel loved raising butterflies and moths from eggs all the way to their adult forms. He was extremely knowledgeable about scientific names, life cycles, food plants, etc. , and loved to share his knowledge with others.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.