The Kiwanis Club of La Cañada announced Chuck Osburn as the 2024 La Cañadan of the Year to acknowledge his 50 years of dedicated service to the La Cañada community. 

On Wednesday, April 23 at 11:30 a.m., Osburn will be recognized at a celebratory luncheon at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, recreation hall, 1830 Foothill Blvd., in La Cañada Flintridge.

The event marks the 65th annual awards ceremony since its inception in 1951, aimed to recognize an individual or couple fulfilling a range of criteria. The award has been presented to such folks as Gil Smith, Dr. Michael Leininger, Vicki Schwartz, Greg Brown, Michael Davitt and, most recently, Katherine Markgraf. 

Upon the selection, Kiwanis Club of La Cañada President Alice Perez said, “Our Kiwanis Club is ecstatic to be honoring Chuck this year! I’m in awe of Chuck’s decades of round-the-clock service and selfless work in our community. He embodies everything that is so special about La Cañada and is an outstanding La Cañadan of the Year awardee.”

La Cañadan of the Year committee chairperson Joe Radabaugh added, “We are thrilled to honor Chuck for all the selfless service he’s performed over the years (seen and unseen) for so many. We invite the public to join us as we recognize and thank Chuck for his commitment to La Cañada.” 

When asked how he felt about the honor, Chuck replied, “I am deeply humbled and honored to receive the La Cañadan of the Year award from Kiwanis. Serving this amazing community for the past 50 years has been one of the greatest blessings and joys of my life.  La Cañada’s values, spirit of unity, resilience and compassion inspired me daily over the years, and I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to be a small part in the lives of so many. This recognition is a testament to the many gifts, connections and strengths of this special community, and I share it with everyone who makes La Cañada so unique.”

Osburn recently retired as the associate pastor of Congregational Care and Counseling at the La Cañada Presbyterian Church (LCPC). In an age where pastors typically don’t stay in the same community longer than seven years, Osburn’s 50 years in La Cañada is truly noteworthy and evidence of his love and commitment to the community he and his wife Barbara call home.  

Osburn presided over thousands of baptisms, weddings, home and hospital visits, community events and memorial services over the years, oftentimes for people in need who were outside his own congregation. Osburn was extra passionate about connecting men in the community, organizing annual men’s retreats and men’s breakfasts, and hosting Art of Fatherhood Parent Education classes in his own backyard. He relentlessly recruited and welcomed all men in our community to join him, regardless of their faith. 

Furthermore, Osburn cared deeply about local area schools and youth. Besides having focused on youth ministries within his own church, he was instrumental in annually bringing together local church and school leaders to collaborate on ways they could all work together to support student’s mental health, safety, and more. He was famous for saying that La Cañada is “Kids R Us” and that therefore students and schools should absolutely be two of the most significant and collective foci. 

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Osburn has been married to his high school sweetheart Barbara, a CPA, for 53 years. They have a daughter, Kendra, a son-in-law, Colin Ryan, and a 3-plus year-old grandson Daniel. It was in high school through the ministry of Young Life that Osburn first came to an active faith in Jesus Christ.  

After graduating from the University of Cincinnati with a BA in sociology in 1971, he joined the staff of Young Life in Columbus, Ohio. In 1974, he came to Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, earning a Master of Divinity in 1978 and a Doctor of Ministry in Marriage & Family Therapy in 1984. Osburn has been licensed as a marriage and family therapist in California since 1987. He came to La Cañada Presbyterian Church as an intern in 1976 and was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) at LCPC in 1980.  

He has served on the board of Monte Vista Grove Homes in Pasadena, the Presbytery of San Fernando’s Committee on Ministry, the Junior Great Books Leader Team at Paradise Canyon Elementary School, the Indian Princess program at the local YMCA, and was an avid Spartan booster while his daughter attended La Cañada High School. He has also helped coordinate the La Cañada Church Leaders Group and is involved with the Clergy Community Coalition serving greater Pasadena. 

His selfless contributions were recently honored when he was awarded the 2024 Les Tupper Focus Service Award and the Foothills Community Scholarship Foundation of La Cañada Flintridge’s 2024 Distinguished Person Award. 

For hobbies, Osburn enjoys playing with his grandson, music and “playlists” from the 1950s to the 2020s, food and friends at Los Gringos, as well as golf … even though his handicap is … himself!

Members of the public are welcome to attend the luncheon celebration. Tickets are $65 per person and may be purchased by emailing the chairperson at LCOY@lacanadakiwanis.org. 

Tickets can also be reserved by mailing a check to the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada – La Cañadan of the Year, P.O. Box 33, La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91012. Make checks payable to the La Cañada Kiwanis Foundation. Check writers should be sure to include their name, email, contact phone and the name of the guests. Tickets are also available at www.lacanadakiwanis.org by clicking on the category entitled The La Cañadan of the Year. The deadline to reserve tickets is April 16, 2025. 

For additional information, call Joe Radabaugh at (626) 975-1125 and leave a message.

Courtesy of the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada