| About |
William "Bill" Henry Orton was born on March 15th, 1938 in Palo Alto County, Iowa and passed away on August 28th, 2019 at 6:06 p.m. from a heart attack in Waterloo, Iowa while residing at Manorcare Health Services. He attended Emmetsburg High School and graduated on May 27th, 1957, Emmetsburg Junior College for two years and graduated on May 26th, 1959, and the University of Northern Iowa and received a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He got married on June 11th, 1961 in Decorah, Iowa, to Beverly Rose Bigler. He worked as a COBOL programmer for the Pentagon in Virginia and as a machinist at John Deere, Rath's Packing Plant, and Viking Pump in Waterloo, Iowa. Bill worked on Davenport screw machines at John Deere. He purchased the Bel-Air Motel in 1973 and owned it for about forty years. He liked helping people prepare for traffic court and do people's income taxes for them. He loved to fish Northern Pike fish at Dog Lake, Canada, hunt pheasants in the woods, play checkers with his friends, and play his electric Hawaiian steel guitar. He was a good carpenter and built a bunk bed and a huge swing and rope for his kids. He loved country gospel music, like Charley Pride and Johnny Cash, and the Gun Smoke TV series. His best friends were Clarence Hoppe, Arnie Grimson (his checkers buddy), Pastor Ed Teeters from Central Assembly of God, Don McCalley, Richard Frisk, and Dan Place. His parents, Wilbur Calvin Orton and Ada Pugsley, his nephew, David Matthew Orton, and his sister-in-law, Sarah Louise Orton, predeceased him. Surviving relatives include his brothers, Paul Thomas Orton (Konda Sue "Connie") from Rochester, MN, and Dwayne Eldon Orton from Estherville, IA, the mother of his children, Beverly Rose Orton from Waterloo, IA, his son, Michael William Orton from Estherville, IA, his daughters, Rebecca Rose Orton from Hyattsville, MD, and MeLisa Beth Pilkey, his granddaughter, Aleeya Michelle Rose Pilkey, both from Waterloo, IA, his nephew, Daniel Thomas Orton from San Jose, CA, and his niece, Laura Jean Sell from Oshkosh, WI. Cards and other sympathies can be sent to Beverly Orton at 709 Downing Ave, Waterloo, Iowa, 50701. There will be a private ceremony to commemorate his life. |
