Dessa B. Orem
Dessa B. Orem
Dessa B. Orem (94) of Yorktown, Virginia and Columbia Falls, relocated into God’s hands on Aug. 26, 2022.
She was a kind and loving wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She loved her family very much and they were always the center of everything she did.
Dessa was born in Flushing, Michigan on Feb. 8, 1928 to William and Merna Hunt. She was the fifth of six children. She attended grade school at a small country school at Russellville, Michigan, she then attended middle school at Kearsley Middle School and graduated from Beecher High School in Flint, Michigan in May of 1946. Shortly after graduation she moved to Glendale, Arizona with her parents and younger brother.
It was there in Glendale that she met Samuel Orem. They married in July, 1950 and together they had two children – Reta and Arzey. After several moves in New Mexico, Nevada and Oregon, they settled on a small farm south of Columbia Falls. She loved being able to view the surrounding mountains.
When her son started school in 1959, she went to work at Vandevanter Meats.
Then in 1963 she accepted a position at the Columbia Falls Post Office. Dessa worked there at the Post Office for 30 years until her retirement in 1992.
She loved the people she worked with and they became her closest lifelong friends. Her favorite job was working the front window and getting to interact with the people of Columbia Falls. At one point she had memorized almost all the names and addresses of everyone in town.
She enjoyed traveling with family so after her retirement and her husband’s passing, she visited, traveling to Canada, China, Japan, Mexico and Panama. Then 12 years ago she purchased a small townhouse in Virginia so to spend the winters closer to her son.
The second love of her life was her church family at First Baptist Church where she was an active member since 1956. Rarely did she miss an opportunity to be there with the congregation.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 43 years, Sam Orem; her daughter Reta Orem; her parents and all five of her siblings.
Dessa is survived by her son, Sam Arzey Orem (Akemi) of Yorktown, Virginia; her grandchildren, Amy Watterton (Kevin) of Yorktown, Virginia and Ken Orem (Ann) of Vienna, Virginia; six great-grandchildren, Jackson, Grayson, Maura, Luke, Charlie and Emerson along with two sisters-in-laws, Charlene Orem, Donna Hunt; and numerous nieces and nephews.
The service in Virginia will be Sept. 17, 2022 at 1 p.m. at W. J. Smith and Son Funeral Home and a graveside service will be in July 2023 at Woodlawn Cemetery in Columbia Falls.
W. J. Smith and Son Funeral Home of Newport News, Virginia are handling the arrangements.