Orrin Dean Oppliger, 74, passed away Friday, Dec. 18, 2009, at Central Kansas Medical Center, St. Rose Campus, Great Bend, Kansas. He was born to John and Eunice Haug Oppliger on Feb. 6, 1935, in Ransom, KS.

On Dec. 10, 1955, he married Naomi Ickes at Leesville, LA. She survives. Other survivors include: sons, John and wife Kathy, Frontenac, KS, Kelly and wife Debbie, Hays, KS, and Jeffrey, Lamar, CO; brother, Gerald, Cocoa, FL; sister, Judy Langley, Ness City; eight grandchildren; five step-grandchildren; seven step-great-grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews and friends.

Orrin was superintendent of schools in Kansas and Colorado, retiring from Tribune School District in 1996. He was fond of students and they of him. He was a member of the United Methodist Church, Ness City, Southwest Kansas Area on Aging, Silver Haired Legislature-Kansas, and the United School Administrators of Kansas, and school board member.

Orrin was a United States Army Veteran. He loved country music, particularly Western Swing, had a band and played countless dances in Southwest Kansas. His grandchildren were his most precious possession. He enjoyed being a part of their lives and telling them stories of days gone by.

Funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday Dec. 23, 2009, at the United Methodist Church, Ness City with Reverend Mark Chambers and Reverend Jill Chambers presiding. Friends may call at Fitzgerald Funeral Home, Ness City, on Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Burial in the Ransom Cemetery. Memorials may be given to the Ness County Girl Scouts or Boy Scout Troop 131, Ness City.