Orville Lee Andrews, the son of James and Ela (Calico) Andrews, was born August 25, 1942 at his parent’s home in Checotah, Oklahoma. He married and raised four children in Checotah, where he held a few different occupations, including serving as a Deputy Sheriff for McIntosh County. Orville was united in marriage with Georgia Heller on May 9, 1978 in Arlington, Iowa. The couple raised her six children together near Sumner and Hawkeye, Iowa. They became members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in 1980. Orville built a forty-plus year career in the pipeline industry, where he traveled and made many, many lifelong friends, who he considered his second family and who knew him as “Big O”. Big “O” left the job site in Colorado this past January.
Orville’s death occurred Thursday, March 26, 2009 at his home in Elgin, Iowa, after a lengthy illness. He was sixty-six years old. Orville enjoyed collecting knives, guns, cars, and belt buckles.
Orville is survived by his wife, Georgia, of Elgin; ten children, James (Theresa) Andrews of Eufala, Oklahoma; Kim (Dutch) Gatlin of Bixby, Oklahoma; Norma (Cliff) Morse of Checotah, Oklahoma; Orville (Teresa) Andrews, Jr. of Bakersfield, California; Gina (Steve) Loshman of Calumet, Iowa; Jackie (Darrell) Bowyer of Alvarado, Texas; Ronnie (Dina) Heller, Jr. of Clermont, Iowa; Angie (Cory) Chindlund of Paullina, Iowa; Chris (Dave) Wiedow of West Union, Iowa; and Tonja (Tim) Schult of Martinsville, Indiana; twenty-four grandchildren; six great grandchildren; one sister, Norma Burks and one brother, Freddie Andrews, both of Checotah, Oklahoma; and a host of other family and friends.
Orville was preceded in death by his parents, five brothers, and one sister.
Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at the United Methodist Church, Hawkeye, Iowa. Internment will be at the Hawkeye Cemetery. Friends may call from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at Becker-Milnes Funeral Home in Hawkeye, Iowa and one hour before services at the church on Wednesday.
