Orin Dexter, 86

Orin Dexter, 86, formerly of King Hill, died Dec. 27, 2004, at Hood River, Ore.

No services were announced.

Dexter was born Oct. 26, 1918, in Bridgeport, Neb.

He was a World War II veteran in the Army Air Corps where he fought in the South Pacific.

After the war he returned to Hubbard, Ore., where he met Helen Buell Taylor. They were married in Vancouver ,Wash. In 1945 Orin then moved his wife, Helen, and her four children, Maxine, Jackie, Charles and Larry, to King Hill.

He opened Orin's Garage and service station in King Hill, and put in a big sturgeon tank where people from all over came to see the two sturgeon.

Orin was the King Hill Boy Scout Leader, a member of the King Hill Grange and a member of the VFW.

Orin and Helen had their first daughter, LaVerne Ann Dexter, in 1947. She was born at home in King Hill. Their second daughter, Derryll Rae Dexter, was born in 1949 in Wendell. Their third daughter, Orina Georgia Dexter,was born in 1954 in Gooding.

King Hill was a wonderful place to raise a large family, his family said, and Orin would sit with all the children, especially the older boys, and tell them stories of the war.

The family moved to Oregon in 1959 after Jackie's graduation in Glenns Ferry.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Helen Maxine Dexter, and a daughter, Maxine Taylor Dexter King Dhabolt.

He is survived by: his wife, Lulu Kupersmith of Cascade Locks, Ore.; his children, LaVerne Ann Dexter Call, Derryll Rae Dexter-Kupersmith, Orina Georgia Dexter, Jackie Taylor Dexter Lanig Martin, Charles Taylor Dexter, Larry Taylor Dexter; 16 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and eight great-great-grandchildren.