Memorial services for Ken Osborn, the late general manager of ADESA Dallas, will be held Saturday in Granbury, Texas, the National Auto Auction Association said in a memo to NAAA members.

Osborn, 65, passed away Jan. 10 in Granbury. He was a past president of NAAA, a 2013 NAAA Hall of Fame inductee and an NAAA Warren Young Sr. Fellow.

More recently, NAAA recognized the longtime auction leader by naming the Ken Osborn Auction Education Scholarship in his honor. On Dec. 20, a ceremony was held to award Osborn the plaque and commemorate the occasion.

Calling him “our dear friend” and outlining his career filled with “career full of so many accomplishments and daily joys in the auction business,” NAAA said of Osborn: “He lived a full life with numerous accomplishments; however, if you asked him what he did for a living, he always answered in his typical simple fashion, ‘An auctioneer.’”

A memorial funeral service is being held at 10 a.m. (CT) at the Granbury Church of Christ, with an internment to follow at Holly Hills Memorial Park in Granbury.

NAAA said Osborn made a special consideration arrangement to his friends in the auction business: “Kenny wanted to hold his funeral services on Saturday since he knew everyone worked during the week,” the association said.

Visitation is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at Wiley Funeral Home in Granbury.

Osborn’s family is requesting that, in lieu of gifts/flowers, donations be made in his name to either the NAAA Warren Young Scholarship Foundation, Inc. or the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

‘Just a class act’

Respect and inspiration were common sentiments around the industry when folks talked with Auto Remarketing in December about the aforementioned scholarship and Osborn’s impact on the auction business.

“I’ve seen him in action whether he’s been an auctioneer on the block at his auction or even mentoring other people in the association,” Hackett said in an interview prior to the Dec. 20 scholarship ceremony.

“I didn’t have the fortune of serving as the executive when he was president, but from everything I’ve gathered from the staff that were around when he was president, he was a great NAAA president and a true leader in terms of the direction for the association,” Hackett said.

“I’ve never met anyone who’s had anything negative to say about Kenny Osborn. He’s just a class act and somebody that I’ve come to admire and respect over the years.”

And, as it turns out, quite the educator. Or better yet, even a head coach — the kind that incubates talent on the staff that goes on to successful skipper gigs themselves.

“He’s mentored many, many people in the industry. We used to always say that the Dallas location really was a place that a lot of men and women learned the business there under Kenny, and then went on to bigger and better things in the industry,” said Tom Caruso, who is the chief client officer for ADESA’s parent, KAR Auction Services.

Caruso was previously the president and CEO of ADESA, following his tenure in several leadership positions within ADESA. Some of those were parallel to Osborn’s, including the time they spent respectively running the east and west operations of ADESA.

“Many of the men and women who worked in Dallas have gone on to be regional vice presidents, general managers at other locations,” Caruso said. “They’ve always talked about Kenny’s work ethic and just the way he ran the business.”