Graveside funeral services for Orpha H. Koetje will be held Friday, Jan. 17, at 11 a.m., at Fircrest Cemetery, Oak Harbor. Memorial services will follow at 1 p.m. at First Reformed Church of Oak Harbor with Pastor Tad Southard officiating.
A reception for family and friends will be held immediately following the memorial service. Visitation for family and friends will be held at Burley Funeral Chapel on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Orpha Helen Koetje, 94, died Jan. 9, 2003 at Home Place Special Care Center, Oak Harbor. She was born June 8, 1908 in Breckenridge, Minn., to Henry and Helen (Johnson) Harrison. Orpha’s father was involved in establishing lumber yards across the U.S. and Canada. Orpha moved with her family to Doran, Minn., where the family lived in a sod hut for a time, Devils Lake, N.D.; Assiniboia, Saskatchewan; Lethridge, Alberta; Vernon, British Columbia, and on to Washington state and Bothell, Renton and Snohomish.
Orpha Koetje attended the University of Washington during the Great Depression and received her bachelor’s degree in art. She taught school in the Seattle area for one year. In 1934, her father was assigned the oversight of Columbia Valley Lumber Company in Oak Harbor. Ben Koetje was the yard manager and sent a young truck driver to Seattle to move the Harrison family to Oak Harbor. The family car was loaded with the family possessions and so Orpha was forced to ride in the lumber truck with the family household effects. The truck driver was Tom Koetje.
Orpha and Tom Koetje were married March 8, 1935, in Oak Harbor a few months after they first met. They purchased 22 acres in what is now the northeast section of Oak Harbor for a family farm. They eventually sold that farm and moved to Crescent Harbor.
Orpha spent much of her life working as a teacher. She taught at Oak Harbor Christian School from 1948 to 1960. Each of her children had Orpha as a teacher at the Christian School for a time. She moved to Coupeville High School from 1961 through 1963, where she taught typing, math and science. In 1963, she taught second grade at Crescent Harbor Elementary School in Oak Harbor. Orpha retired from teaching in 1973. In addition to school, she also taught Bible classes for many years. She became very active in Child Evangelism Fellowship in her retirement years.
Orpha loved to travel. When son John was in the service, he received R&R in the Philippines. Orpha flew over to meet him and also other family members stationed at Clark Air Force Base. From the Philippines, she continued on to Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan. She also journeyed to Mexico and Holland. She was proud of the fact that she had gone from a sod hut to being able to travel around the world.
Orpha Koetje is survived by three children and their spouses, Hugh Thomas Koetje and Rosalie of Auburn, John Harrison Koetje and Cathie of Oak Harbor, and Ann Temme and George of Bellingham; one daughter-in-law, Betty Koetje of Bellevue; and two sisters, Rae Wagner of Seattle and Margaret Johnston of Bellevue.
Fourteen grandchildren also survive: Bruce Engle of Sedro-Woolley; Mike Engle of Wilsonville, Ore; Brian Koetje of Burien; Jonathan Koetje of Beire, Mozambique; Tim Koetje of Auburn; Tom Koetje of Bellingham; Joy Mock of Kenmore; Christy Hessler of Wind River; Debby Dooring of Covington; Julie Buckley of Buckley; Nicole Koetje of Hood River, Ore.; Kathy Simmin of State College, Pa.; Michelle Koetje of Los Angeles, and Sarah Koetje of Oak Harbor. Fourteen great-grandchildren also survive. Her husband Tom Koetje and son David Henry Koetje preceded her in death.
Memorials may be made to Oak Harbor First Reformed Church Memorial Fund. Arrangements are by Burley Funeral Chapel. This obituary is at http://burley.plan4
ever.com.
