Orville R. Kessinger

Orville R. Kessinger, Sr., 69, of Eau Claire, passed away Thursday, November 18, 2004 at Community Hospital-Watervliet. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 1:00 P.M. Monday at Kerley-Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph with Rev. Wade Blankenship of The Lighthouse officiating. Burial will follow at Oak Hill Cemetery in Plymouth, Indiana. Friends may call from 2-4 P.M. Sunday at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to Berrien County Cancer Service. Those wishing to share a memory or sign the guest book online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com. Mr. Kessinger was born January 16, 1935 in McHenry, Kentucky to Raymund & Elizabeth (Stone) Kessinger. On December 20, 1969, he married the former Ruby Lucas Little in St. Joseph. Orville retired in 2000 from Weil-McLain in Benton Harbor after twenty years of employment. He was a fan of country & western music and enjoyed watching old western movies & Bonanza on television. Mr. Kessinger is survived by his wife Ruby; five sons-Dusty Kessinger, Richard Kessinger, Dennis (Nova) Little, all of Eau Claire; Fred (Judy) Little of Hartford; Dale Robinson of Plainwell, Michigan; four daughters-Karen (Steve) Comer of Sodus; Diane (Ron) Rothenthaler of Grand Rapids; Deborah (Ron) Uhrik of St. Joseph; Leonda (Joel) Shroyer of Decatur; seventeen grandchildren; seventeen great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; one brother-Robert (Pat) Kessinger of Evansville, Indiana; one brother-in-law-Albert (Jean) Lucas of Berrien Springs; his uncle Robert (Ruth) Kessinger of Stevensville; and special friends-Tom (Brenda) Baumeister of Eau Claire. He was preceded in death by his parents, by an infant brother-Edward Kessinger, and by an infant daughter.