Orville Robert Moran, age 91, passed away peacefully on January 17, 2026 at his residence in Wahpeton, N.D. where he resided with his wife, Jeanne, of 63 years. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held to honor his life on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, at 2 pm, with visitation one hour before at St. John’s Catholic Church in Wahpeton. Interment will be held in the spring at Calvary Cemetery in Wahpeton. Arrangement have been entrusted to Vertin-Munson Funeral Home, Wahpeton.
Orville was born on January 10, 1935, in Little Falls, Minnesota, the third of six children, to Luella and Orville L. Moran. He graduated from Little Falls High School in 1953. After high school, he attended Moorhead State Teachers College earning a degree in English education in1959. During both high school and college, he played varsity football and remained a big fan of the sport all his life. He also served in the Minnesota National Guard during his college years. This was followed by studies at St. Lawrence Seminary in Wisconsin to prepare for a vocation as a Capuchin Franciscan monk, but he left the seminary to return to Moorhead State where he completed a master’s degree in education.
Following his studies, he began teaching at Wahpeton High School in 1961, where he met Jeanne Egan who would become his wife in 1962. They moved to Austin, MN, in 1966, where he took another teaching position at Austin Junior College and taught there until his retirement in 1997. During his tenure at Austin Community College, he was active in theater performing the lead role in Fidler on the Roof and supporting roles in My Fair Lady, Othello and The Taming of the Shrew. His other interests included growing sweet corn and apple trees in his garden, ballroom dancing and listening to operas. In his later years, Orville became an avid genealogist and traced his family lineage to the 1640’s in Nova Scotia, Canada. He was much loved by his friends and family and is remembered for his jovial and personable nature.
He is survived by his wife of 63 years; three children, Elizabeth, Renae, and Dylan, and one granddaughter, Allyssa Wulf. He was preceded in death by his parents and siblings.
