Garald 'Jerry' Orman

Feb. 1, 1932-June 13, 2004

Garald "Jerry" Orman was born Feb. 1, 1932, in Hayes Center. He graduated from Curtis Nebraska State High School in 1949. He attended McCook Community College, graduating in 1951 with an associate of arts degree in journalism.

He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was stationed in San Diego, Calif., where he graduated from San Diego State College in 1955 with a bachelor of arts degree in political science and a minor in economics. In San Diego, he met his wife, Juanita Savage of Maine.

Jerry graduated from Georgetown Law School in Washington, D.C. He moved to Orange County in 1961, where he served as a deputy public defender until 1965. He was a partner of the Launer, Chaffee, Ward and Orman law office in Fullerton and then started his own law practice, which he continued until the present.

He was a former president of the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association and a member of the Orange County Bar Association.

Jerry was the father of six: Judith Alexander, Mark, Eirik, Grant, Jacqueline Jackson and Brandon. He had 12 grandchildren. He is also survived by three sisters, Ruth Wagner of Ventura, Calif., Darlene Unger of Hayes Center and Lorraine Morosic of McCook.

Jerry died June 13, 2004, in Santa Ana, Calif., of a heart attack at the church where he'd spent almost every Sunday for 43 years. He will be remembered as a man devoted to service to God. At Trinity Lutheran Church he held many offices, including president. He was on the board of directors for the Good Shepherd Lutheran Home of the West and an active member of Gideons International.

Jerry was funny, optimistic and physically active. He kept his mind sharp by researching and discussing new computer technologies. He got his weekly dose of Midwestern humor from Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion radio show. A farmer at heart, he maintained a large garden and collected rare plants from the Fullerton Arboretum and the Huntington Library.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Garald Orman Memorial Fund at Trinity Lutheran Church in Santa Ana.