Orville W. Allender

Orville W. Allender, 84, of Mt. Pleasant died of an apparent heart attack Friday, May 12, 2000, at his home.

Masonic funeral service will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 18, at the Masonic Temple on North Main Street in Mt. Pleasant. The funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, May 19, at the First United Methodist Church in Mt. Pleasant with the Rev. Edward R. Peterson and the Rev. Kiboko I. Kiboko officiating. Interment with full military honors will be held in Old Richwoods Cemetery, north of Mt. Pleasant on Trenton Road. Visitation will begin at noon Thursday, May 18, at the Weir Funeral Home in Mt. Pleasant. The casket will remain closed. Family visitation will be at the temple after the masonic service until 9 p.m. Thursday evening. Memorials have been established to the Old Richwoods Cemetery or the First United Methodist Church.

Mr. Allender was born Aug. 12, 1915, in the Richwoods community north of Mt. Pleasant, the son of John W. and Edith Lane Allender. He married Odetta G. Stein on Sept. 16, 1945. A 1933 graduate of Mt. Pleasant Community High School, he graduated from Ft. Madison Business College in 1938. He worked at the Henry County Savings Bank as a bookkeeper. He worked for the War Department at the I.A.A.P. in Middletown for 18 months. He returned to the Henry County Savings Bank before enlisting in the U.S. Navy. He was discharged as Chief Storekeeper, disbursing after serving in the South Pacific Theatre of Operations. He returned to work at the Henry County Savings Bank (now Firstar Bank) in Mt. Pleasant in 1946 and retired as Senior Vice President in 1998 after 55 years. He was a 50-year Mason, Past Master, Secretary for 21 years, Chaplain for five years and current Treasurer of the Mt. Pleasant Masonic Lodge No. 8, AF and AM, Yorkrite Masons and KAABA Shrine in Davenport. He served on the Masonic Temple Board of Directors for the last 10 years. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church, the Mt. Pleasant Golf and Country Club, the Kiwanis Club, where he served as President in 1952, the Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber of Commerce, where he served on the Board from 1970 to 1980. He was an Ambassador and was voted Outstanding Man of the Year in 1950. He was presented Citizen of the Year by the Chamber in 1980. He was a Trustee of the Mt. Pleasant Public Library. He served on the Board of Directors of the Henry County Health Center from 1956 to 1970.

Survivors include three sons, Frederick Allender of Des Moines, David Allender of Kent, Ohio and Eric Allender of Skillman, N.J.; one daughter, Laurel de Pontbriand of Bel Air, Md.; one sister, Lulu Wren Turner of Mt. Pleasant; and six grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife; and one brother, Walter L. "Bus" Allender.