Family remembers mother after her death in bridge accident

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)_ Yvonna Osborn was almost home when her life ended. <br/><br/>Osborn, 52, was killed when a chunk of concrete fell from an overpass on Interstate 35 and smashed through her windshield.

Friday, June 18th 2004, 6:14 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)_ Yvonna Osborn was almost home when her life ended.

Osborn, 52, was killed when a chunk of concrete fell from an overpass on Interstate 35 and smashed through her windshield.

After traveling from a business trip in Kansas City, Mo., she only had about two hours of an eight-hour, 15-minute trip left before she reached her Irving, Texas, home.

The mother of three died of massive head injuries on June 8, a few hours after the 15-pound block fell on her sedan.

Josh Medlin doesn't think his mother feared death.

``She believed in the Lord and she knew where she was going,'' said Medlin, 24.

But he and the family struggle to move on.

Medlin remembers his mother's smile and the way she liked to celebrate birthdays, holidays _ life.

``She loved Christmas,'' he said.

``We had this big eight-track player that she would just play all these Christmas songs on,'' he said laughing.

The concrete that killed Osborn fell from a bridge near the Paoli exit about 50 miles south of Oklahoma City.

According to Oklahoma Department of Transportation records, the bridge's last official inspection was in November 2002. The column and piers were found in serious condition. The driving surface was rated in fair condition.

The 15-pound chunk of concrete that hit Osborn's car came from the driving surface.

There are about 1,600 bridges in Oklahoma that need to be repaired or replaced. Of those, the state only has enough money to repair 197 over the next eight years, transportation officials said.

Osborn's family is filing a lawsuit against ODOT and possibly the contractor who worked on the bridge. The lawsuit will bring little reprieve to Osborn's relatives but they hope it will encourage the state to improve its bridges, Medlin said.

``We are doing all that we can to make sure her death is not in vain,'' he said.

Yvonna Osborn was loving and tenacious where Medlin was concerned, he said.

``I was never a good kid. But, she loved me. She never gave up on me,'' Medlin said.

Her strength allowed her to work two jobs to take care of Medlin and his two brothers.

``We lived in a shack in Alvarado, but we would still have so much fun going fishing and hanging out,'' Medlin said.

Life got better for the family after she met her husband Darren, a widower. They were soul mates, Medlin said.

``They really brought out the best in each other,'' he said. ``Both of them changed each other's lives. They weren't on the right path at first, but they got on the right path with the Lord together.''

Darren and Yvonna would have been married 14 years on July 23, Yvonna's birthday.

Darren Osborn, who has already suffered the loss of his mother, father and sister, has decided he won't be celebrating Christmas with the family, Medlin said.

``But we are making him get out of the house for the Fourth of July,'' Medlin said. ``I think Mom is very proud of her family right now, because she always wanted us to be close to Darren and we are.''

The Osborns ran a family air freight shipping business together, Infinity Air Transport.

The couple also liked to garden together.

``She would be in that garden all day long. Her and Darren,'' Medlin said. ``We called her the 'transplant queen' because if she didn't like where something was she would just move it. One time she planted too much stuff and it caused a big mosquito problem.''