Lynnette Oser sat at her dining room table Tuesday with two of her son’s friends as looked at pictures of Cody Oser and watched a video that will be played at his funeral.
Propped up against the wall was photo of Oser, sandals clutched in one hand, strolling along the beach of Costa Rica where the sand meets the surf.
“That looks like my son is walking off to meet God,” his father Steve Oser said.
Oser, a 24-year-old Peace Corps volunteer, died April 8 in the Comarca Ngäbe Bugle region of Panama. So far, two memorial services have been held to honor his life, one in the village he served and another in Panama City. Cody was fluent in Spanish and Ngäbere, and was studying French and Swahili.
Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday at Nativity of Our Lord Church, 900 W. Midway Blvd. in Broomfield. Oser also will be honored with a memorial tribute in the Colorado Senate on May 8.
Oser earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Colorado State University in 2015 and had minors in business administration and international development. He served as an engineering intern for SunCulture Solar Agriculture in Keyna, and as a Project Leader for Engineers Without Borders in El Salvador and Pine Ridge, S.D.
He had planned to work in Cerro Gavilan, in northwest Panama, on latrine construction and formation and legalization of a water committee.
After he left the Peace Corps, which would have been October 2018, Oser planned to travel a few months and then return home to Colorado where he wanted to buy land in the mountains and own a hostel — similar to the ones where he spent so much time while traveling.
Part of the building would be a microbrewery, Lynnette said, and he hoped to attract people who wanted to travel and enjoy everything Colorado has to offer.
An autopsy is still pending, but his family said Oser’s death was an accident. The place he died, an area with a lake and waterfalls, was one he visited frequently to practice yoga and meditate.
They believe Oser was jumping from one rock to another when he missed his footing and slipped.
His brother Gabriel gathered his brother’s belongings and went to see the site where Oser died.
“He said it was just beautiful,” Lynnette said. “Gabe said it was absolutely so peaceful. He could feel him everywhere. He could feel Cody’s essence and presence there and he was at peace there, completely at peace.”
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