Sep 7, 2013

When South Strabane police Chief Donald Zofchak thinks about the township, Bill Orndoff’s name is one of the first to come to his mind.

Orndoff spent years in various leadership roles in South Strabane Township, serving time as a part-time police, supervisor, fire chief and public works roadmaster.

“When you mention Bill Orndoff, you think of South Strabane Township. That’s how ingrained he was with the community,” Zofchak said. “His heart was totally with that township. Between the fire, the roads and the township, he devoted his life to it all.”

William Harvey Orndoff died Friday night, September 6, 2013, after battling cancer. He was 87.

Orndoff was born February 27, 1926, in Rogersville, to William Woodrow and Nell Pearl Day Orndoff. He attended Washington High School before leaving early to join the Army Air Corps, where he spent his service time in Texas. He returned to graduate from Washington.

Orndoff drove buses for Blue Ridge and Greyhound and was a founder of Suburban Lines Bus Co., where he served as president. He later formed the A&W Bus Lines. After his retirement, he drove the shuttle van for Budd Baer car dealership.

But it was his work in the township that Zofchak says set him apart. Zofchak credited Orndoff with helping to change South Strabane from a rural farming community into a growing township with bustling business districts. He said Orndoff became a township supervisor in the mid 1960s right when development began and continued in that role until the early 2000s.

“It’s a tremendous loss. It’s a great loss,” Zofchak said. “South Strabane came from a very rural area. You go back to the early 1960s, it was rural and agriculture. Then the retail started coming in and Bill was there all of those years. He saw the township develop, and he was there developing it.”

Orndoff also was a charter member of the South Strabane Fire Department’s Station No. 2 and served as fire chief there for a decade. South Strabane fire Chief Scott Reese said he continued to volunteer his time helping with bingo fundraisers. He received an award in December from the Pennsylvania State Senate for 50 years of service to the fire department.

“Bill was a committed person,” Reese said. “He helped out with everything and always kept involved with every facet of the fire department, whether it was purchasing equipment or (volunteering) on the social side.”

Even as Orndoff began backing off his township duties, Zofchak fondly remembers him stopping by to say hello and staying connected with municipal workers and volunteers.

“He would still stop by and check in on things and stayed active with the fire department,” Zofchak said. “We’re going to miss him. He fought until the end.”

One of his favorite pastimes was meeting with friends at Eat’n Park and Al an’ Ruben’s restaurants. He enjoyed jazz music and would travel all around the area to hear his favorite bands. He was well-known for always having candy to distribute.

On August 26, 1950, he married his beloved wife, Virginia Larkin, who passed away December 10, 2007.

Surviving are two sons, Robert (Barbara) Orndoff and David (Kimberly) Orndoff, both of Washington; a daughter, Judy (the late Fred “Buddy”) Boone of Washington; four granddaughters, Carrie (Will) Nabors, Michelle Orndoff and Bobbi Orndoff, all of Washington; and Olivia Orndoff of Nashville, Tenn.; a grandson, Joshua Orndoff of Nashville; three stepgranddaughters, Sheila Bonus, Kayla Bonus and Alicia Bonus, all of Washington.

Deceased is a sister, Nora (Robert) Pthtel.

His family will receive friends from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday in William G. Neal Funeral Homes Ltd., 925 Allison Avenue, Washington, where services will be held at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 11, with Pastor C.D. Croscutt officiating. A fireman’s service will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the funeral home. Burial will follow in National Cemetery of the Alleghenies, Cecil Township, where military rites will be accorded graveside by Edwin Scott Linton Post 175 of the American Legion.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be made to South Strabane Fire Department, 172 Oak Springs Road, Washington, PA 15301, or Washington Alliance Church, 246 Sanitarium Road, Washington, PA 15301.

Additional information and a guest book are available at www.NealFuneralHome.com.