Orville Tonsing
Orville Henry Tonsing, 85, died in Holyoke on Oct. 10, 2022. He was born April 13, 1937, in Burlington, the youngest son of Erwin and Ruby (Karspeck) Tonsing.
He was baptized and later confirmed in the Lutheran faith at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Burlington on March 18, 1951. He transferred his membership to the Zion Lutheran Church in Holyoke and was a member of the congregation at the time of his death.
He attended school in the Burlington school system and graduated from Burlington High School on May 20, 1954.
Orville was united in marriage to Roberta J. Briggs on Aug. 18, 1957, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Burlington. Following a short honeymoon, they resided in Holyoke, where they lived their entire married life. To this union, two wonderful children were born: Marilyn and Mark.
Orville and his family moved to Holyoke in 1956, as Erwin and Ruby had purchased the Holyoke Cleaners. In 1959, following the unexpected death of his father, Orville and Ruby ran the Cleaners together, and later that year he and Roberta purchased it from his mother.
He was a man of great service to all — his family, community, many charitable organizations, his local government, his local fire department and that of the entire state as well.
Knowing the value it would be to the community, Orville and four other interested and dedicated people drove to Greeley twice a week for months in 1975 to become certified EMTs, the first north and east of Greeley. That led to them becoming the Holyoke ambulance drivers. He was also a former member of the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce and various dry cleaning organizations.
Orville was a consummate giver of his time, his talent and his willingness to help others, which was prevalent in all he did. He was a founding member of the Because charitable organization, created to raise money for those in need in the Holyoke community. He served many, many years as treasurer of the board and was always looking for more ways to make that much-needed money. He helped with the Orphan Grain Train dinner fundraising projects and many other charitable organizations and projects.
He was a member of the Holyoke City Council for 14 years, 12 of them as current mayor. He represented Holyoke on many local committees as well as regional ones including the Northeast Colorado Association of Local Governments. He was treasurer of that organization and enjoyed working on their many projects and learning even more about various cities.
Through the years, he also served on the Northeast Colorado Transportation Authority and the Colorado Municipal League, attending their many meetings and conferences, bringing that information back to benefit the people of Holyoke. One of his proudest accomplishments during his time as mayor of the city of Holyoke was the completion of the municipal airport’s latest project.
Orville was incredibly dedicated to being a firefighter and had a profound impact on the lives of so many others in the organization. He had been an active or retired volunteer fireman for nearly six decades, having joined the Holyoke department on Sept. 15, 1966. In those many years, he served in all leadership positions at the local, district and state levels, including president of the Colorado State Firefighters of America (CSFFA) in the early 1980s.
He was named as the delegate to the prestigious and nationally acclaimed Stonebridge III in Maryland, representing the state of Colorado. At the time of his death, he was still offering sage advice and the knowledge he had gained over the past 56 years. He also served as secretary/treasurer to the Holyoke Rural Fire District board for 38 years.
One of the highlights of his fire career was the CSFFA creating a special new award named after him in 2016. He was the first recipient of the Orville H. Tonsing Excellence in Leadership Award. That sums up his fire career better than all the words on a page can, though he was certainly humble in his acceptance of it. That’s the kind of man he was.
Orville was the driving force for the new Holyoke fire station. So many fellow firemen have said that without him, this fire station would have never happened.
In his spare time, he enjoyed remodeling and helping his children with their homes, reading and playing cards. He and Roberta also enjoyed traveling often with Mark and Julie following their retirement.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Roberta; parents, Ervin and Ruby Tonsing; in-laws, Lawrence and Gertrude Briggs; son-in-law, David Denney; brother and sister-in-law, Orlin and Joeanna Tonsing; sister-in-law, Marian Ferguson; brother- and sister-in-law, David and Lorraine Briggs; and brothers-in-law, Leslie Briggs, Leon Ferguson and Raymond Korte.
Orville was survived by his daughter, Marilyn Denney of Kenai, Alaska; son, Mark and wife Julie of Merino; brothers- and sisters-in-law, Larry and Beatrice Briggs of Lindale, Texas, Clarice Korte of Holyoke, Barbara Briggs of Laguna Nagual, California, Elroy and Delilah Briggs of Boulder, and Dale and Mercedes of San Diego, California; two granddaughters, Anna Love and Jonni Rogers, both of Kenai; four great-grandsons, Cole Crandall, Keegan Wirz, Zachary Renner and Draiden Mullican, all of Kenai; and two great-great-grandsons, Hudson Crandall and Andy Renner, both of Kenai. He was also loved by numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, family and friends.
Orville Tonsing was a giver, a servant of the community. All of us are richer for having had him in our lives. In his most famous words, his last advice to all was “pick it up.”
Services were held Oct. 17 in the new Holyoke fire station. Interment followed at Holyoke Memorial Park.
Tennant Funeral Home of Sterling was entrusted with the arrangements.