Geraldine Ann (Shortsleeve) Osterbur

Geraldine “Gerry” Ann (Shortsleeve) Truett Osterbur, 97, of Royal, IL, died Thursday, April 24, 2015 at
Country Health Care in Gifford IL.
Visitation will be at 10AM, April 29, 2025, at St. John Lutheran Church in Royal, followed by the funeral
service at 11AM. Burial will be at St. John Cemetery in Royal. Freese Funeral Home in St. Joseph, IL is in
charge of arrangements.
Gerry was born on March 14, 1928, the daughter of Roland H. and Gertrude E. (Kienietz) Shortsleeve of
Royal. She was married twice; first to Vernon C. “Charlie” Truett on September 11, 1949, and then to
Robert E. Osterbur on October 18, 1980.
In addition to her husbands, Gerry was preceded in death by her parents and her twin sister Polly
(Shortsleeve) Collins. She is survived by her son Scott (Leigh Lindahl) Truett of St. Peters, MO, her
grandson Chris (Abbie) Truett of Kansas City, MO, and 4 great granddaughters...Aliviah, Alexis, Chloe,
and Madison.
Gerry was a lifetime resident of Royal, a lifelong member of St. John Lutheran Church, and a long-time
member of the American Legion Auxiliary in Royal.
After graduating from Ogden High School, Gerry attended Mercy Hospital School of Nursing. Following
her graduation in 1948, she worked as a nurse at Mercy and for several doctors in the
Champaign/Urbana area.
In the 1960s Gerry became a bookkeeper for her father at the Royal Insurance Agency, a position she
held into the 1980s.
Gerry and her sister Polly were best known as “The Shortsleeve Twins" in the Royal area, and they used
their nurse’s training to provide emergency first aid and medical care for dozens of people over the
years. Gerry was an avid gardener and loved to cook and bake. But most of all, she was a loving and
caring wife, mother, and grandmother, and she was a friend to everyone she met.
Memorials can be made to St. John Lutheran Church in Royal, Country Health Care in Gifford, or to the
Crisis Nursery in Urbana, IL.
Gerry’s family would like to express their heartfelt thanks to the staff of Country Health Care for the care
they have provided to Gerry over the last 9 years.

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