Orlo S. Fletcher 24 January 1990 Submitted by: Rachel Cary Copy and prepared by: Suzie Wright
for Orlo S. Fletcher - 90 January 24, 1990 - 1:30 P.M. at the Winkel Funeral Home - Otsego, Michigan by The Rev. Stephen W. Tucker, Paster First Congregational Church - Otsego, Michigan The President was William McKinley. The Spanish American War had just been completed with the Philippines, and Hawaii and Puerto Rico becoming U.S. Territories. Polular songs were: "My Wild Irish Rose" and "Maple Leaf Rag". Henry Ford formed the Detroit Auto Company. Carrie Nation was breaking up saloons in Kansas. President McKinley became the first president to use an automobile - riding in a Stanley Steamer. The Gibson Girl set the trend in fashion. Sears Roebuck was publishing it's 5th annual catalog. New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt's advice to the weary: "exercise". The Hatfields and McCoys were feuding in Kentucky and West Virginia. On Monday June 12 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and their gang robbed a Union Pacific Train of $60,000 near Wilcox Station Wyoming. Four days later on Friday June 16 a baby boy was born to George and Nina Fletcher near Ganges. They named him Orlo S. The year in which all this happened was 1899. Orlo was the second of two children. He had an older sister and Orlo was said to be one of those unexpected, afterthought surprises. He was reported to have been spoiled by his parents. His folks had a large fruit farm in Glenn, Michigan. Orlo graduated from the 8th grade in Glenn. He was a daredevil of sorts. You remember his story of his riding a motorcycle through town as a young teenager standing on the seat. After he graduated from 8th grade he attended a mechanic school in South Bend for awhile. About 1914 his dad bought the first Model T in the area. (Model T's were selling for about $440 in those days.) The next year 16 year old Orlo drove that Model T from Michigan to Victor, Idaho with his parents. Victor being on the west side of the Teton Mountains over the 8429' Teton Pass one has to traverse to get there from Jackson, Wyoming. Orlo's sister lived there. You can remember Orlo's tales of his adventures as he did a good part of the driving; sometimes driving on dry creek beds when there were no roads. I wonder how long it took and where they got gas along the way? On one of their trips out west they camped on a ridge of ground in a rainstorm and the next morning awoke to find themselves, along with a few cows, on the only dry ground as the rest of the territory was under water. They milked some of the cows for drink. For the next few years Orlo returned to Wyoming and Idaho. You remember his stories of his skiing in the Tetons and hunting, and trapping and cowboying and driving the steam threshers. In 1918 one-quarter of our nation was struck with an influenza epidemic call the Spanish Flu. Many people in the western ranches were sick and died. Orlo, having the Model T, chauffered the local doctor to the ranches. Often his car doubled as a hearse, bringiing dead bodies back to town. Sometimes he drove through snow covered places where the doctor refused to go through with him. When he was cowboying, herding cattle, in the Jackson Hole area, age 16 or 17, he was kicked by his horse and had his jaw broken. It took three days before he could get back to a doctor. Orlo had to have been a tough young fellow. After those adventures in the Wyoming Rockies he returned to Glenn. Somewhere in there he drove taxi in South Bend and worked for the railroad in the Muskegon Round House; there he would start the train engines to build up the steam. He liked to tell the story of the time two "higher ups" in white suits were watching and wondering if this young kid knew what he was doing. Orlo waited until they were standing in the right place and released steam on them. They ran thinking Orlo was going to blow up the train. Orlo had a good friend whose wife had a premature baby. This friend had a cousin who was a registered nurse in Allegan. He asked Orlo if he would go get his cousin and drive her back to help with their new baby. The baby was so small it was kept warm in a shoe box with a light bulb. Orlo went after that young nurse. Her name was Melba Dunfield. It took a couple of years - and I don't know who lassoed whom - but on January 22, 1911 in Leisure, Michigan (about 4 miles west of Pullman) Orlo and Melba were married in a marriage that would last 60+ years until Melba died on Aug 20, 1982. For the first few years of their married life they lived in Glenn and Orlo ran his dad's farm. In 1924-1925 they moved to Otsego and Orlo worked at the MacSimBar paper mill for a year or so. During that time they had two baby girls who were unfortunately stillborn. The Fletchers moved back to Glenn where Orlo operated a gas station and garage until the Depression hit in 1929. During that time son George arrived on the scene in 1926 and daughter Rachel came a few years later (1929). Just before the Depression hit the Orlos had bought and paid for a brand new Whippit automobile. That car was stored, put on blocks and brought out again in 1937. One other lasting memory for Orlo when the Depression hit was that many folks who professed to be good Christians didn't and/or couldn't pay their debts to him and he had to lose his garage. This soured him on Christianity and is powerful lesson to us who claim to be Christians - that our actions on other days besides Sunday really show the world about Christinaity. As the Depression deepened the Fletchers moved to South Haven and Orlo drove truck from 1930 to 1936 or so between Grand Rapids and Winter Haven, Florida; hauling potatoes down south and bringing oranges back up north. After that until the early 1940's he drove truck for Interstate Trucking between Chicago and New York. Then it was back to the fruit farms in the Glenn - South Haven area working for Bardens and Warks. Before the semi came along he used to drive an International C-30 for the Warks and a bigger 1934 International C-40 for the Bardens. In 1946 the Fletchers moved to Otsego to care for Melba's folks and Orlo began working at the Allegan County Road Commission as a mechanic in the Allegan garage until he retired in 1965. You remember how he used to say he would like to be in a tornado. When a tornado hit on April 3, 1956 Orlo was working at the County garage. He managed to hit the button to close the doors just before the storm hit - which may or may not have been the right thing to do. In any case the roof collapsed and a large ventilator fan fell, just missing him. He walked home to Otsego after that tornado and never wanted to be in another one. That summer when Orlo was 57 hears old he was with the family on School Section Lake watching others water ski. He had never done it before, but thought if he could snow ski in the Rockies as a young lad he could surely water ski on a flat lake in his 50's. And sure enough, he got up on those skis, the first try, skied around the lake; dropped himself off back at the cottage; went to the house, people thought, for one of his Camels - but later found out it was for a shot of whiskey. He never water skied again, but he knew he could do it. He was his own person, independent and stubborn. As I said you remember him smoking his Camel cigarettes until he gave them up cold turkey in 1965. All spoke of one of his pride and joys - his garden. No weed better rear its head in it. And one walked only in designated places; it was Holy ground. But I understand his grandchildren have been known to play hide and seek in the all asparagus bushes and one winter grandson Jim dug a fort in the garden, it was easier digging, and Jim unknowingly destroyed quite a few strawberry plants; surprising as it may be grandpa Fletcher never said a word - it was grandma Fletcher who mentioned it. When Orlo called you and said the vegetables were ready for picking anytime..."anytime" meant within the next hour or two - or he would pick them for you, or threaten to plow them under. When he no longer could weed by hand you remember how he would run his tractor along the rows to weed and a lot of the good topsoil would blow away. You remember the big raspberries he used to sell to the grocery store in Allegan. He was proud of his grandchildren and great grandchildren. For his grandchildren he put his woodworking skill to use, making them baby cradles, a glider, lawn chairs in which they have fond memories of eating M & M's. He would even bait the hooks of his grandchildren, which he probably, didn't do for his children. The only time granddaughter June can remember him angry at them was a time she and brother Jim, as young children, were swimmming in Swan Lake in a spot they had been forbidden to swim. Grandpa caught them in his boat and paddled them. He was scared they might drown and it was a spanking because he loved them. He had nicknames for his grandchildren as well as daughter Rachel: Rachel was "sis"; Judy - "Judy girl"; June - "June bug" and Jim - "Bub". When the grandchildrfen were little it was a rule they couldn't begin opening their Christmas presents until their grandparents Fletcher arrived. So, reportedly, about 4 am the vigil for their headlights to appear began. More than once Nick and Rachel were awakened by false alarms until about 6 am when grandma and grandpa Fletcher would arrive on the scene and the festivities could begin. You can see him sitting in his blue and silver Cris-Craft boat with his 3 horse SeaKing motor with his cane pole with a pencil bobber and double hook fishing for blue gills. You can remember the good times hunting with him. He was happy just stirring up the deer for someone else to shoot; he didn't have to be the one to get the shot. One time hunting for deer in the Allegan Forest, Orlo was by himself and others heard a shot. After awhile Orlo came out to the rest of the party and they asked him if his shot had been successful. "It sure was", he said, and brought a trout out from under his coat. He had shot it instead of a deer. You can remember the particular song he always whistled as he walked from one place to another, but can't remember it's name. You remember how he cut lots of wood and wielded his chain saw way up into his 80's. You remember how he liked to eat hot or cold boiled potatoes and hard boiled eggs; or the Sunday dinners with the Tiger game on the radio in the background; or during the week how you had to be quiet after the big noon meal so Grandpa could sleep for an hour before he went to work at the Allegan garage. You remember the popcorn balls at the Fletcher home for the few neighborhood children at Halloween or the blue jar with the cookies and candy -especially the Three Muskateer Bars that Orlo would even give to the neighbor's dog on occasion. Speaking of dogs. Orlo's dog "Skip" was mentioned. When granddaughter Judy was wee tot, Skip was found leading her across the fields towards a stream. Was he jealous of his new rival and trying to get rid of her? On the other hand he was very protective of Judy also. How good it was that Orlo and Melba could spend eleven years after retirement in the Winter in Florida at Venice and Englewood, fishing, playing shuffleboard, traveling around the State and enjoying many social activities where they wintered. One winter he suffered a torn retina in his eye and couldn't see out of it. He didn't trust the doctors in Florida so drove home to Michigan with one eye. Speaking of his eyes I asked why the patch on his right eye? He wore that when he was staying at the Crispe home in Plainwell. One of the other ladies staying there always bugged him with the same question. He stopped her questioning by saying it was a state law he had to wear that patch because he had a bionic eye and if he used it he could see through people's clothes and it would be as if she were standing there before him stark naked. Actually it was to correct a double vision problem. An example of his stubborness and his independent spirit was another time at Crispe when he first got there. Residents were asked to use the elevator to go downstairs for meals and not use the stairs. Orlo, of course, couldn't be bothered to wait for the slow elevator, so he took to the stairs, fell and ended up in a heap at the bottom; fortunately with no broken bones; but thereafter he took the elevator. After Melba died and then George a year later in 1983 and then falling and breaking bones and suffering a stroke, it came to the point where Orlo could no longer care for himself. These last several years he would say he was, "Just waiting to die". His life's adventure was over as far as he was concerned. Although, you still remember his humor at the family gathering just a month ago tomorrow at Christmas where he knew one of the family members didn't get a deer last fall and picked on him for not being able to use the peepsight on his gun. Orlo even took a small shot of Crown Royal Whiskey and not being used to it anymore gagged on it and claimed it had grown stronger since Christmas 1988. The psalmist says, "The length of our days is threesome and ten; or fourscore if we have the strength." Psalm 90:10. For Orlo Fletcher the length of his days was fourscore and ten. His life was an adventurous and full one. He experienced many things and had 60 years with his wife and enjoyed his family. He leaves behind many good memories for you to treasure all of your days. As someone said to me in a tibute to him: "Orlo was a guy you'd like to know." Orlo S. Fletcher. Amen and Amen.
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