SinClair Orendorff

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(April 17, 1924 - Sept. 27, 2016)

On Sept. 27, 2016, SinClair Orendorff died of old age. When last seen he was still climbing. You can ask him what that means when next you see him.

SinClair was born April 17, 1924, in Driftwood, Oklahoma. He was the youngest and final survivor of the five children born to D. Lawrence and Laura Graham Orendorff. In 1942 he graduated from Billings High School in Billings, Oklahoma, and then attended one semester of college at Northern Oklahoma Junior College in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, before enlisting in the U.S. Army in January of 1943. Following boot camp in Camp Swift, Texas, he began training as a corps medic in Denver, Colorado, (82nd Engineering Battalion). In the summer/fall of 1943 he was sent to the University of Nebraska for the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) where he trained as an engineer for three quarters.

In November 1944, when infantry were needed for D-Day and the subsequent invasion of Germany, he was sent to Fort Rucker, Alabama, for infantry/rifleman training and later deployed to Germany with the 26th Regiment, First Infantry Division. During the Battle of the Bulge he received a head wound but was returned to combat. At the end of the war in May of 1945 he was again wounded, this time by friendly fire. Taken by hospital ship to Brooks General Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, he took several months to recover. He was medically discharged from the service on Oct. 19, 1945, his mother’s birthday.

SinClair purchased a ’37 coupe and took his parents on a trip to Mexico. He then enrolled at Southwestern College, in Winfield, Kansas. He had previously earned enough college credits to enter as a junior. In January 1947 he graduated with a BS in Math and Physics and then attended George Peabody College (Vanderbilt College) in Nashville, Tennessee, graduating with an MA in Education in the summer of 1948.

SinClair and Mary K Hamilton were married on Nov. 27, 1947, at the Nardin, Oklahoma, Methodist Church. His father, a Methodist pastor, officiated the wedding. His first teaching position was the school year of 1948-1949 in Eureka, Kansas, teaching five subjects in math and science. In Eureka his and Mary K’s first children, twins Jeannine Marie and David Edward, were born. He resigned at the end of the school year.

His second teaching position was at Ponca City High School, in Ponca City, Oklahoma, beginning in the school year of 1949-1950. At PCHS he taught math and science, and was the school business manager. In Ponca City his and Mary K’s next three children were born: D. Lawrence (Larry) – 1950; Michael SinClair – 1951; Candace Kay – 1959. During the summers SinClair attended institutes for the advanced study of nuclear physics in pursuit of a PhD in Physics. He attended sessions at Oklahoma State University, Brigham Young University, University of Arizona, and the Oakridge Tennessee National Laboratory.

SinClair’s third teaching position was as Associate Professor of Math and Science at Central Missouri State College, in Warrensburg, Missouri, during the school year of 1961-1962. In the summer of 1962 he became the Dean of Students and Faculty at Casper College, in Casper.

In January of 1967 he became President of Northwest Community College in Powell. In the spring of 1967 he received his Ed.D from the University of Wyoming.

Among many accomplishments during his tenure as President of NWCC SinClair considered his most significant to be: Securing the college’s financial viability and stability through an expansion of the college’s funding district; attaining full accreditation for NWCC with the North Central Association of Colleges and Universities; an increase in faculty size and quality along with a significant increase in students; expansion of the curriculum to include technical and vocational education as well as a general education requirement for all associate degrees; the construction of the NWCC Campus Carillon in appreciation of his parents lifetime dedication to education; and helping to form the Wyoming Association of Community Colleges and the Wyoming Community College Commission as he worked with the Wyoming Legislature. He remained at NWCC until his retirement in June of 1988.

On July 7, 1988, SinClair married his longtime friend, Helen Johnston. He and Helen started their married life in Billings, but returned to Powell in the fall of 1996. Following his retirement he remained active on the NWC Foundation Board and at the Union Presbyterian Church of Powell. He could be seen around town in his old pick-up truck cleaning up scraps at construction sites. It was from these scraps that he built his beloved backyard Outhouse Shed.

SinClair was preceded in death by his parents, his siblings and his son D. Lawrence.

He is survived by his wife Helen, four of his children: Jeannine (Larry-deceased) Cozzens of Billings; David (Vickie) Orendorff of Woodinville, Washington; Michael (Melinda) Orendorff of Pueblo, Colorado; and Candace (Tom) Horton of Bellevue, Washington, 11 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

The memorial service will be held in the Nelson Performing Arts Auditorium at Northwest Community College on Oct. 15, at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, SinClair has requested that a donation be made to the Northwest College Foundation, Powell, WY or a charity of your choice.

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