Orvel G. Baldridge

On June 20, 2025, Orvel G. Baldridge was promoted to glory. Orvel Gayle Baldridge was born August 4, 1955, in Newton, Harvey County, KS, the son of Orvel “Bud” Baldridge and Charlsie Juanita (Sanders) Baldridge.  During his youth he excelled in all sports but especially as a sprinter in track and on the football field. He broke records in the 75, 100, and 220 yard dash during his 8th grade year and in 1967 led his junior high football team to an undefeated season.

On September 26, 1972, at the age of 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps.  Shortly after his enlistment the U.S. began to decrease the number of troops in Vietnam.  Orvel stayed stateside where his M.O.S. was small arms repair.  While in the service Orvel completed work to receive his G.E.D.  He was transferred to a Disability Retired List on July 29, 1974, and honorably discharged on June 30, 1983, with a medical retirement and a 100% service-connected V.A. disability.

Orvel worked in Kansas pumping oil for several years.    He moved to Tahlequah in 1989.  He married his wife Wilma Grisham Baldridge on March 19, 1991, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. They enjoyed traveling to national parks, historic sites, and attending grace Bible conferences and camps.

He devoted the last thirty-five years to helping “all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God” (Eph. 3:9) but was revealed to the Apostle Paul by the risen Lord Jesus Christ. He tried to show others that one can gain a better understanding of God’s Word by rightly dividing the Word of truth, separating law and grace. He liked to place copies of The Berean Searchlight magazine in hospitals, clinics, and other places where he might plant the seed of God’s love for mankind.

Another goal in his life was to help military veterans and their spouses. He served as a junior service officer for twenty years assisting in filing benefit claims. His opening in a conversation when meeting a veteran for the first time was, “Have you filed your claim yet?” Hundreds of veterans in the area received benefits as a result of his efforts. For thirteen years he was chairman of the Tahlequah Veteran’s Day Parade. With Deputy Chief Joe Grayson, Jr., he started the first Cherokee Nation Veterans Office, voluntarily managing the office until permanent staffing was complete.

Somehow Orvel found the time to study Taekwondo with Grand Master Wilson Vann, becoming an assistant instructor and earning a third-degree black belt even though he had a fused right knee. He enjoyed working with young people teaching forms and helping them to practice the five tenets: courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, and indomitable spirit.

Orvel acted on stage in the Trail of Tears drama at the Cherokee Heritage Center and participated in seven Tahlequah Community Theater productions, earning an Erwin Award as best actor for his portrayal of R. P. McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest. He transitioned to television and film work appearing as an extra in Dragon, Last of the Mohicans, and Walker, Texas Ranger, Doe Boy, Where the Red Fern Grows (1999), and others.

He was the owner/president of the Native American Indian Talent and Casting Agency in Tahlequah, and in 2002 founded the International Cherokee Film Festival to promote filmmaking among Cherokee youth.  In 1996 Orvel co-produced and acted in a leading role in the feature film Tushka which was accepted at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.  He taught classes in auditioning techniques; served as an extra casting and casting director and as a location scout and manager. Orvel co-produced Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy (2006) with Rich-Heape Films; he was the Unit Production Manager for Cherokee Removal Documentary (2008). His last work was in the 2012 film The Cherokee Word for Water.

Orvel led a rich and varied life serving others in many capacities while making a home in Tahlequah with his beloved wife. He was excited to learn, while working with his wife on the Baldridge family history, that his third great-grandfather John Fox Baldridge was a delegate to the Cherokee Constitution Convention helping to draft their first constitution in 1827, and that he traveled to Washington, D.C., in 1833 with John Ross, Richard Taylor, and Joseph Vann to try to persuade Andrew Jackson to prevent the removal of the remaining Cherokees to Indian Territory.

He was a member of the Downed Bikers Association Foothills Chapter, American Legion, and Disabled Veterans of America. Orvel was an avid Harley Davidson rider, enjoying the solitude of the open road.

Orvel is preceded in death by his mother and father, brothers, J.E. Chessher, Howard Duane Baldridge, Jim Chessher, and Harold Lee Baldridge, sisters Ruby (Chessher) Bergman, and Lorraine (Chessher) Long.

Left to mourn his absence and celebrate his homegoing are: his wife Wilma of the home, brothers, Rick Baldridge and Teresa of Lost City, OK, and Charley Chessher of Meriden, KS; sister Janelda Gower and Gary, Tahlequah; brother-in-law Tommy Grisham and Julie of Vass, NC, and many loving nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

A time of visitation will be held on Monday, June 30, 2025 from 4:00pm until 7:00pm at Reed-Culver Funeral Home.

Funeral services for Orvel will be on Tuesday, July 1, 2025 at 10:00am at Reed-Culver Chapel with Pastor Kevin Sadler and Jay Hannah officiating.

He will be laid to rest at Maple Cemetery in Akins following the luncheon.

Serving as pallbearers are Skylar Smith, Kaih Smith, Dale Coke, Joseph Simmons, Jimmy Sams, and Bretly Crawford. Honorary pallbearers include Chad Smith, Craig Collins, Byron Finley, Cordell Rose, Leonard Troglin, and Tommy McCollum.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Orvel to the Berean Bible Society, N112 W17761 Mequon Road, Germantown, WI 53022 or on their website at bereanbiblesociety.org