Wanda Wilkerson Osborne

Wanda Osborne, 82, of San Francisco, CA peacefully passed away, surrounded by her loved ones, on Friday, 27 December 2024 at the Sutter Health CPMC on Van Ness Ave in her beloved city of San Francisco. Born Wanda Fontana Wilkerson, she spent most of her adult life wanting to be known as Wanda Wilkerson Osborne. She was the mother of two sons, Kenneth Dwayne Osborne and David Allen Osborne, and at the time of her passing she was the grandmother of two boys and six girls, and the great-grandmother of six boys and eight girls. Wanda had two brothers and four sisters. She is survived by her brother Andrew Ance Wilkerson and her two sons.

Wanda was born and raised in the small segregated southern community of Jefferson City, TN. In May of 1959, she graduated as the Valedictorian from Nelson Merry High School. She then moved to Nashville, TN to attend college at the HBCU Tennessee State University. While there she received numerous achievement and participation awards. In May 1961 she became a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Upon graduating in May 1963, with a bachelor’s degree in history and teaching certification, she married her former husband Joe Stewart Osborne. Later that year while pregnant with her first son, she hopped on a bus and left the south to join her husband to begin a new family life in San Francisco. This move was during a period of American history that has come to be known as the Great Migration. After giving birth to her two sons and four years of being a homemaker, she decided to start working on a career in medicine and in September of 1970, she completed a two-year certification course as an X-ray Technician at Mount Zion Hospital. She spent the next 37 years working for several different practices as a Radiological Technologist and office manager culminating with her being hired by a pair of doctors to handle all patient and administrative responsibilities for their cat-scan private practice in Saint Luke’s Hospital. She worked there until her retirement in 2007 at the age of 65. Throughout her working years, she was an active member of the San Francisco Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta and embodied their principles of Sisterhood, Scholarship, Service, and Social Action. She participated in numerous meetings, activities, and functions, which included her serving as the co-chair for the 1984 Ebony Fashion Fair Committee.

Despite Wanda’s underprivileged beginnings, she developed a great appreciation for the fine arts. She enjoyed going to the ballet, operas, symphonies and plays. She loved dining out with family and friends and tried to sample as many of San Francisco’s notable restaurants and scenic dining locations as possible. She routinely went to theaters to see modern movies and reruns of movie classics. She believed in being physically active and loved taking long walks throughout the city, especially in Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, and along Ocean Beach. She loved nature and made a concerted effort to learn the names of the many types of flowers, bushes, trees, and birds found in San Francisco. She enjoyed taking her grandkids to parks, museums, and all historically significant locations to expose and encourage them to learn and develop an appreciation for history and cultural education. Additionally, she loved to read and felt it was essential for success, so she regularly spent her time in libraries and bookstores, and whenever possible she took her grandkids too. Wanda loved to interact with people and had a very intense work ethic that didn’t let her just sit at home and relax in retirement, so in addition to spending much of her time working to maintain and improve her garden, she also did several stints as a volunteer worker. At one point she was a volunteer server helping to provide meals to the needy at the Cecil Williams Glide Memorial Church. She also served as a volunteer worker at the Fort Miley San Francisco VA Hospital from 2010 to 2013. She was a staunch Democrat and avidly stayed abreast of national politics which ultimately led to her serving as a volunteer for the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign in San Francisco and she regularly donated money to Democrat campaigns and causes she believed would positively contribute to making America a more just and prosperous place for all.

There will be an interment ceremony for immediate family members at the San Francisco Columbarium & Funeral Home, One Loraine Court, San Francisco, CA 94118, on 10 February at 11:30 AM with a memorial service at 1:00 PM, which is open to all family and friends. This will be directly followed by a social gathering and opportunity to view Wanda’s final resting place and show your respects. Viewing of the memorial service will also be available via Zoom. The login information will be provided at a later date.

Please send any flowers and/or gift cards to the Columbarium with arrival times before noon on 10 February. Thank You.

To view the service for Wanda Osborne, please use the link below:

https://www.viewlogies.net/san-francisco-columbarium/u1HMV_AES?pin=725440