Obituaries : Alta Vae Orvis; 30-Year County Resident

Alta Vae Orvis, amateur genealogist, traveler and a county resident for 30 years, died Friday after a long battle with leukemia. She was 56.

Born the daughter of a grain farmer in the rural town of Leoti, Kan., in 1940, Orvis moved to Ventura County in the late ‘60s with her husband, Leland.

She worked in Port Hueneme as an equipment specialist for the Navy at its ship weapons engineering facility for 26 years before retiring in 1994.

Orvis and her husband indulged a love of travel, touring the country by car--they had a fondness for the Midwest and sites rich in history. The history of her family also intrigued Orvis, who enjoyed tracing her family’s lineage.

Her love of a good find extended to garage sales--a hobby her family says she pursued almost every weekend morning.

She was a bargain hunter, said her daughter Tonya Siuniak of Santa Paula. “She could find just about anything and was really good at it.”

Siuniak described her mother as a strong woman with a tender heart: “She loved helping people. If anybody ever needed anything, she’d always give them a hand.”

Orvis is survived by her husband; daughters Roxanna Ochoa of San Diego, Tonya Siuniak of Santa Paul and Kelly Orvis of Oxnard; siblings Opal Heater, and Lee Roy, Darlo and Max Lieneman; and seven grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the James A. Reardon Mortuary, Oxnard.