Walter W. Osteen Jr. age 82 of Ormond Beach died at home on Monday August 8 2005. Mr. Osteen was a native Daytonan born September 28 1922 to Walter W. and Nell MacDonald Osteen Sr. He was a member of the pioneer Osteen family which settled in west Volusia County after the second Seminole Indian War moving later to Fort Christmas where his father was born and finally settling in Oak Hill at the turn of the 20th Century. Although Mr. Osteen known to his childhood friends and family as ?Junior ? grew up in the middle of the Great Depression of the 1930?s when times were tough and money was tight he often remarked that in many ways it was an idyllic life for a young boy whether he was riding his pony into the nearby woods to hunt small game with his trusty 22 rifle or fishing the pristine Halifax River with his Dad. This idyllic life came to a sudden halt in 1940 with the untimely death of his mother and the beginning of WWII the following year. After graduating from Mainland High School in 1941 Mr. Osteen joined the Navy. He served as a Medical Corpsman with the 4th Marine Division and participated in the invasion of Tinian and Saipan in the South Pacific where he served with distinction and later in North Africa. After the War he accepted a position with the Veterans Administration and moved to Waycross GA to open an office there where he helped many returning veterans get the financial aid they needed to go to college including future actor Pernell Roberts. While living in Waycross he met and married Zell Davis a union that lasted 58 years until her death in 2004. They eventually returned to Daytona in the 1950?s and together raised four children. Mr. Osteen went to work for the postal service rising to the position of branch supervisor until his retirement. During this time Mr. Osteen was also a commercial beekeeper working between 200 and 250 hives of honey bees. Both before and after his retirement Mr. Osteen?s love of fishing never waned and together with his wife and fishing buddy Zell they dipped their poles into every accessible body of water where they suspected bass and bream might lurk. Although these are some of the facts of Mr. Osteen?s life he was much more than that as anyone who had the good fortune to cross his path in life can attest. His passing has left a void in the lives of those who loved him which will never be filled. We will all miss his wonderful sense of humor and his ever present smile which never failed to brighten your day. He was a lifelong member of Westside Baptist Church. Left to cherish his memory are his four children Kenneth and his wife Eileen Walter III and his wife Nydia Jan and Beverly and her husband Charles; and nine grandchildren Kendra Amy Adam Chase Brianna William Emily Jason and Brian. A viewing will be held for the family and friends at Lohman Funeral Home Ormond between the hours of 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. today. A Funeral Service will be held in the Lohman Funeral Home Ormond Chapel on Monday August 15th at 11:00 a.m. with internment at Volusia Memorial Park to follow. Condolences may be made via the family guest book at www.lohmanfuneralhomes.com. Arrangements are under the careful direction of Lohman Funeral Home Ormond.