Dora Nadine "Dody" Becker was the third of four children born to Charles E. and Margie E. (Smith) Becker. She had two older sisters, Elvera and Mary Jane, and a younger brother, Edgar Dewey. All preceded her in death.
Dody grew up as a farm girl around Louisburg, Kansas and attended Louisburg schools. When World War II broke out, like her brother and oldest sister, as soon as she was old enough, she enlisted in the US Army WACs and was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, where she met her future husband, Army Officer Frederick Orenstein, from New York City. After the war ended, they married and made their home in New York, where Freddy was an optometrist and remained in the Army, rising to the rank of Colonel.
In the early 1950's, they decided to try their hand at wildcatting oil wells in eastern Kansas. They purchased an oil well drilling rig and had it shipped to Louisburg on the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (the "MKT" or "Katy") railroad. They also purchased a 100 acre farm which had a converted railroad boxcar for a house and raised Hereford cattle on it. While drilling many oil and gas wells in Miami County, Dody's father's health began to fail. Dody was very close to her father and when he passed away in 1956, she lost the will to live in Kansas. Freddy and Dody sold their farm and drilling rig and moved back to New York, where they lived in Jamaica, Queens and Great Neck. In 1958, they had a son, Ira Anthony.
After Freddy passed away in 1989, Dody and Anthony left New York and moved to their vacation home near Princeton, Maine.
Dody was a very unique person. She was extremely smart and artistic and had a keen analytical mind. She was a kind and generous person as one could ever hope to meet. She was truly one of a kind and will be greatly missed.
Some of her ashes were scattered on her parents' graves in Louisburg, Kansas.
Written by her nephew, Charles E. Purvis
Dody grew up as a farm girl around Louisburg, Kansas and attended Louisburg schools. When World War II broke out, like her brother and oldest sister, as soon as she was old enough, she enlisted in the US Army WACs and was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, where she met her future husband, Army Officer Frederick Orenstein, from New York City. After the war ended, they married and made their home in New York, where Freddy was an optometrist and remained in the Army, rising to the rank of Colonel.
In the early 1950's, they decided to try their hand at wildcatting oil wells in eastern Kansas. They purchased an oil well drilling rig and had it shipped to Louisburg on the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (the "MKT" or "Katy") railroad. They also purchased a 100 acre farm which had a converted railroad boxcar for a house and raised Hereford cattle on it. While drilling many oil and gas wells in Miami County, Dody's father's health began to fail. Dody was very close to her father and when he passed away in 1956, she lost the will to live in Kansas. Freddy and Dody sold their farm and drilling rig and moved back to New York, where they lived in Jamaica, Queens and Great Neck. In 1958, they had a son, Ira Anthony.
After Freddy passed away in 1989, Dody and Anthony left New York and moved to their vacation home near Princeton, Maine.
Dody was a very unique person. She was extremely smart and artistic and had a keen analytical mind. She was a kind and generous person as one could ever hope to meet. She was truly one of a kind and will be greatly missed.
Some of her ashes were scattered on her parents' graves in Louisburg, Kansas.
Written by her nephew, Charles E. Purvis
Dora Nadine "Dody" Becker was the third of four children born to Charles E. and Margie E. (Smith) Becker. She had two older sisters, Elvera and Mary Jane, and a younger brother, Edgar Dewey. All preceded her in death.
Dody grew up as a farm girl around Louisburg, Kansas and attended Louisburg schools. When World War II broke out, like her brother and oldest sister, as soon as she was old enough, she enlisted in the US Army WACs and was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, where she met her future husband, Army Officer Frederick Orenstein, from New York City. After the war ended, they married and made their home in New York, where Freddy was an optometrist and remained in the Army, rising to the rank of Colonel.
In the early 1950's, they decided to try their hand at wildcatting oil wells in eastern Kansas. They purchased an oil well drilling rig and had it shipped to Louisburg on the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (the "MKT" or "Katy") railroad. They also purchased a 100 acre farm which had a converted railroad boxcar for a house and raised Hereford cattle on it. While drilling many oil and gas wells in Miami County, Dody's father's health began to fail. Dody was very close to her father and when he passed away in 1956, she lost the will to live in Kansas. Freddy and Dody sold their farm and drilling rig and moved back to New York, where they lived in Jamaica, Queens and Great Neck. In 1958, they had a son, Ira Anthony.
After Freddy passed away in 1989, Dody and Anthony left New York and moved to their vacation home near Princeton, Maine.
Dody was a very unique person. She was extremely smart and artistic and had a keen analytical mind. She was a kind and generous person as one could ever hope to meet. She was truly one of a kind and will be greatly missed.
Some of her ashes were scattered on her parents' graves in Louisburg, Kansas.
Written by her nephew, Charles E. Purvis
Dody grew up as a farm girl around Louisburg, Kansas and attended Louisburg schools. When World War II broke out, like her brother and oldest sister, as soon as she was old enough, she enlisted in the US Army WACs and was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, where she met her future husband, Army Officer Frederick Orenstein, from New York City. After the war ended, they married and made their home in New York, where Freddy was an optometrist and remained in the Army, rising to the rank of Colonel.
In the early 1950's, they decided to try their hand at wildcatting oil wells in eastern Kansas. They purchased an oil well drilling rig and had it shipped to Louisburg on the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (the "MKT" or "Katy") railroad. They also purchased a 100 acre farm which had a converted railroad boxcar for a house and raised Hereford cattle on it. While drilling many oil and gas wells in Miami County, Dody's father's health began to fail. Dody was very close to her father and when he passed away in 1956, she lost the will to live in Kansas. Freddy and Dody sold their farm and drilling rig and moved back to New York, where they lived in Jamaica, Queens and Great Neck. In 1958, they had a son, Ira Anthony.
After Freddy passed away in 1989, Dody and Anthony left New York and moved to their vacation home near Princeton, Maine.
Dody was a very unique person. She was extremely smart and artistic and had a keen analytical mind. She was a kind and generous person as one could ever hope to meet. She was truly one of a kind and will be greatly missed.
Some of her ashes were scattered on her parents' graves in Louisburg, Kansas.
Written by her nephew, Charles E. Purvis
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