Orvis L. Wiens, 79
Orvis Lee Wiens of Phoenix, Ariz., departed from this world on his 79th birthday on Jan. 30, 2025, at Hospice of the Valley Friendship Village in Tempe, Ariz.
Orvis (Orv) was born Jan. 30, 1946 in Sioux Falls, S.D., to Harvey and Mildred (Berg) Wiens. Orv started his life on a farm near Freeman, S.D., and attended rural grade school. His family moved to Freeman where he graduated from Freeman Academy and Freeman Junior College. Orv was baptized at the Salem-Zion Mennonite Church.
After college Orv moved to Evanston, Ill., where he was involved in maintaining and operating hospital steam boiler systems. Orv moved back to the Freeman area for a brief period and became an owner/operator truck driver and enjoyed a few years on the road with his dad, Harvey. Then life took him to Los Angeles where he did HVAC work and then he made a move to Phoenix, and retired from Maricopa County, Ariz., where he installed, repaired, and maintained HVAC systems in schools and hospitals.
Orv could fix anything and build anything. He was always tinkering in his workshop. He built guns with beautiful handmade stocks. His workmanship and attention to detail was impeccable. Orv also loved the outdoors and enjoyed camping, range shooting and hunting. In his later years he especially enjoyed prairie dog hunting with his son Bryan.
Orvis is survived by his children: Lona (Matt) Christensen, Hermosa, S.D.; Bryan (Jeni) Wiens, Albany, Minn.; grandchildren: Destiny, Lauren and Caiden; great-granddaughter Millianah; his siblings: Jenell Porter (Bryan Dahl), Wilmont, S.D., Barton Wiens (Diana Geiger), Loveland, Colo., Glenda (Scott) Schempp, Vermillion, S.D., Lynette Anderson (Bob Flannery), Nicholasville, Kent., Vera (Jon) Lenderts, Edinburg, Texas; his Uncle Dennis (Lavida) Wiens, Shevlin, Minn.; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Abe and Eva Wiens and Isaac and Marie Berg; his parents, Harvey and Mildred Wiens; his sister-in-law, Janet Wiens; and several aunts and uncles.
Services and internment will be private at a later date.
