Orris Forde

Funeral services were held Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010, at Hanson-Runsvold Funeral Home in Fargo, for Orris Forde, 92, of Fargo, who died Sunday, Feb. 14 at MeritCare Palliative Care Unit, Fargo.

Burial will be in Rosehill Memorial Park, Minot, at a later date.

Orris was born April 16, 1917, near Tolna, a son of Obert and Gertie (Hensrud) Forde. He was raised and educated in the Tolna area and attended business college in Fargo. He enlisted in the Signal Corps in 1942, and was assigned to radio training at the University of North Dakota, Coyne Electric School in Chicago, and New Orleans. He attended basic training at Camp Crowder, Mo. He was shipped to England where he serviced military fighters and bombers as a sergeant in Aircraft Radio for the duration of WWII. He married Anna R. Lorenz, of Nekoma, on March 24, 1943. They had six children and lived in Rugby for 17 years before moving to Minot in 1963. He managed grain elevators in Westhope, Knox, Nekoma and Rugby. He was employed by Harvest States Regional Office in Minot until retiring in 1980. Anna died July 4, 1993. He married Mavis Cross, of Fargo, on April 27, 1996. The couple resided in Fargo and Mesa, Ariz.

He is survived by his wife, Mavis, Fargo; five sons: Dale, Fort Collins, Colo., Duane, Boise, Idaho, Lynn, Fargo, Randy, Boise, Idaho, and Bruce, Great Falls, Mont.; one daughter, Annette Wurgler, Phoenix; nine grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and a brother, Norman, of McVille.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Gerald and Harris; and a sister, Esther Howitz.

Arrangements by Hanson-Runsvold Funeral Home, Fargo.