Timothy David Orrison III

Jan 31, 1952 -

Jul 25, 2020

Lifelong Alaska resident Timothy David Orrison III, 68, of Anchorage, Alaska, passed from this world on July 25, 2020, of natural causes under the care of Shepherd's Home Care 2.

Tim was born on Jan. 31, 1952, in Seattle, Wash., to Tim Orrison Jr. and Vivian Foster Orrison (Greenway).

In March 1955, Tim's parents drove up the Alcan Highway to Fairbanks, Alaska, to homestead on Chena Hot Springs Road. Tim loved to hang with his dad as they built their new home. Their home was destroyed in a fire just after completion in the spring of 1959. Tim's dad moved back to Seattle. Tim missed him terribly. Tim's mom moved him and his three siblings into Fairbanks, where she raised them.

Tim and his brother Jim made friends with Andy Twogood, who owned a wrecking yard in south Fairbanks, where the two boys learned all about auto repair.

When he grew up, Tim traveled to his dad in Seattle, and when he learned his sister, Diane, was traveling through, he made sure that she took enough time between flights for Tim, and their dad, also Tim, to show her and her son the sights of Seattle. He also visited his sister, Linda, in North Carolina, and spent time with brother Jim in Rampart. Jim's daughter, Carry Ann, says: "I remember everyone watching him water ski in the Yukon when he would fly over to visit us. He'd bring us kids fruit and treats." Tim was also close to his youngest brother, Shawn, and the two got together often.

Tim was a member of the Operating Engineers 302, and when the trans-Alaska pipeline construction started in the 1970s, Tim became a much sought-after heavy equipment mechanic, and never lacked for work.

Tim left Alaska in 1985, and traveled the country from Seattle to South Carolina and back several times. In 1987, in South Carolina, Tim had a near fatal auto accident that rendered him incapacitated. He was flown back to Alaska, where he received intensive rehabilitation therapy in Valdez. He regained his ability to talk and walk, and was transferred to a care home in Anchorage. He got a job at Providence Memorial Hospital, which lasted for nearly 20 years. During his many years in Anchorage, many of Tim's financial, home, medical, rehabilitation and recreational needs were put in place by Assets of Alaska.

Tim was very social, and loved to hang with the staff at Assets. Tim also loved country and 60s music, and loved to dance. Assets made sure that he got to attend many dances and other social events. He also was not shy when speaking before a crowd. He attended the memorial services of both his mother and his stepfather, and, with an unsteady gait because of his injuries, he fjorded the steps up to the podium and spoke respectfully and also with some humor about each of them.

He still liked to travel, even after his accident, and did so every chance he got. He visited his daughter, Kiara, in Oregon, and Hawaii, where his sister Diane lives.

Tim is survived by his first wife, Shirley Spear; two children: son, David Orrison and wife Alena of Idaho, and grandchildren, Caitlynn and Kyle Rast, Timothy David Orrison V and Trinity Orrison of Idaho, and Kristen Schmeltzer and Austin Cunningham of Alaska; and daughter, Kiara Orrison of Oregon; and grandchildren, Dakota, Charrisse and Sawyer Wedding of Oregon, and stepsons. Wade and Curtis Estes; brothers, James Charles Orrison and wife Elaine Evans Orrison, Shawn Steven Greenway and wife Tanya Brown Greenway and Harold Dallas Greenway, all of Alaska; sisters, Linda Lee Orrison Bass of North Carolina, Diane Orrison Neill Jensen and husband Gene of Hawaii, and Simone Greenway of Alaska; uncles, Eddie (Terry) Mayo, Leonard (Louise) Mayo, Clyde (Kathy) Mayo, Alfred (Laura) Mayo, Edward Mayo; and aunts, Maxine Foster McCombs Davis and Delores Javier Gobuyan Foster; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.

Preceding Tim are his father, Timothy David Orrison II; his mother, Vivian Foster Orrison Greenway; his stepfather, Harold Frank Greenway; his former wife, Miriam Charrisse Luciano Orrison; uncles, Lester Stein, Victor Marvin Foster, Wayne Everett Foster, Neal Davis, Lawrence Hines, Victor Marvin Foster, John Greenway Sr., Michael Michel Sr., Pete Macchione, Morris Thompson and Emil O. Bergman; aunts, Dorothy Mae Orrison Stein, Eunice Orrison, Vera Belle Foster Hines, Barbara Sladek Willmott Foster Parker, Eleanor Greenway Michel, Ruth Greenway Bergman Macchione, Thelma Mayo Thompson, Peggy Mayo Wright, Lillian Mayo Folger; nephew, Jessy Alan Orrison; and niece, Joy Thompson.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Assets, Inc. through their website.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Legacy Funeral Homes.