Funeral Mass was celebrated Jan. 19 at Our Lady of Grace Church, Encino, for Msgr. Francis M. Osborne, 91, who died Jan. 13 at Nazareth House where he had lived since last August. Cardinal Roger Mahony presided at the evening liturgy at the parish that Msgr. Osborne headed as pastor for 26 years.

A native of Pasadena, Msgr. Osborne served in the archdiocese for 66 years. He attended Sacred Heart School, Lincoln Heights, and All Souls School, Alhambra; Los Angeles College, the former junior seminary; and St. Patrick, Menlo Park. He was ordained April 2, 1938 by Archbishop John Cantwell and fulfilled assignments at Holy Spirit, St. Anselm, and St. Brendan parishes in Los Angeles before his appointment as a Navy Chaplain during World War II.

His military service included serving with Navy fliers at advanced bases in the Caribbean where German submarines lurked, then with Marines in North Carolina and eventually submarine duty in the South Pacific. He finished the war as a Lieutenant Commander.

After the war, Father Osborne was an associate pastor at St. Ignatius (Highland Park), St. Finbar (Burbank) and Good Shepherd (Beverly Hills). In 1955 he received his first pastorate at St. Cornelius, Long Beach. Four years later he was named pastor of then 14-year-old Our Lady of Grace in Encino at a time when there was no freeway nearby and the parish site was an orange grove. During his tenure he built the new permanent church building and instituted several parish societies.

"The first emphasis in all our societies," he said at the dedication, "is on the spiritual. Then the temporal things take care of themselves."

In 1966, Father Osborne was named a consultor, the board that advises in ecclesiastical and administrative matters for the archdiocese, and the same year he was appointed director of the Holy Name Society. He served in that capacity for more than 20 years. In 1967 Pope Paul VI named him a Domestic Prelate (monsignor). In March 1975, Msgr. Osborne was named the associate National Spiritual Director of the Holy Name Society.

After his retirement in 1985, he continued to minister in the parish and up to his residence at Nazareth House celebrated daily Mass in the convent. In 1998, numerous past parishioners and priests gathered on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of his ordination and again recognized his efforts in building the new church.

Msgr. Osborne is survived by a sister-in-law, Verna, niece, Donna Ogden, nephew, Christopher Osborne and several grandnieces and grandnephews. Interment was at San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Mission Hills.