ENBODY: Orval Gerrit Enbody age 91 a lifelong resident of Grand Rapids passed away at home on May 16 2011 a few months after suffering the loss of Jean Lorraine his wife of 69 years. Their children were at his bedside: Susan (William) Stelzer of Haslett MI; Mary (Ted) Havens of Battle Creek MI; Virginia Enbody of Cambridge MA; Diane Herrera of Ft. Lauderdale FL; Teresa Enbody of Grand Rapids. He is also survived by 12 grandchildren 20 great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his sister Dorothy Van Oort. Orval was a man of uncanny wit curiosity and great empathy; a conversationalist to the end. He owned Valley City Welding and Saco Steel in Grand Rapids. Behind his personal and work accomplishments was an innate sense of design and enthusiasm to get it right. Business associates friends and family depended on his applying that engineering ethic to any undertaking. Summers were devoted to enjoying the sun – on picnics the family houseboat or reeling in perch and rock bass from the Holland Pier. If a hed butter a skillet at the lakes edge to fry up a breakfast of eggs and bacon for the family after church. He relished the news and supplemented the local Press with editions from Chicago and Detroit; never tired of watching the Lions and Tigers play and a boyhood fascination with airplane mechanics graduated to a long coveted pilots license and small plane. Orval served in the 44th Armored Infantry of the 6th Armored Division in WWII. After retirement details emerged of his service from being dragged to the bottom of the Our River to entering Buchenwald to soldiers who never made it home. An oft repeated story as his health failed was a return from a push through Germany. As he struggled for miles through snow and mud his gear bearing him down two fellow soldiers came alongside and took up his bedroll and rifle. The remaining member of a generation in one family is at rest. The loss is incalculable. Visitation will be held on at at St. Robert of Newminster 6477 Ada Dr., Ada followed by the Mass at Rev. Leonard Sudlik presiding. Internment at Graceland Cemetery. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions for the repair of cleft/lip palate may be made to DeVos Childrens Hospital 100 Michigan St.,N.E., #MC004 Grand Rapids MI 49503.
