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BORN
1933
DIED
2015
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Alan Orme Obituary
In his youth, Dr. Orme was a builder and was a soldier in the Korean War, where he also worked as a carpenter. Before coming to Athens he served for eight years as the Academic Dean of Carver Bible College, established in Atlanta to train men for the ministry. Rev. Dr. Orme was a native of Elmira, New York, and was preceded in death by his parents, a brother and a sister. He is survived by nephews and nieces distributed across four countries and three continents. He had been a well-known figure around the Athens neighborhoods for years, both for his yellow Model A Roadster and for his ubiquitous presence as a cyclist and pedestrian. He wrote extensively in periodicals and journals and authored two books, Restoring Old Houses and God's Appointments with Men. He was known for his continuous work on his 1897 home on Church Street and for his interest in antiques and collectibles.
His body will lie in state at his home at 397 South Church Street on Wednesday, September 2, from 4 until 8pm. In keeping with Dr. Orme's tradition of hospitality, the church will have a fellowship meal in conjunction with this visitation. The funeral will be held on the following day, Thursday, September 3, at 3pm at Redeemer Presbyterian Church with interment at Oconee Hill Cemetery. Arrangements by Jackson-McWhorter Funeral Home.
7/5/1933 - 8/27/2015
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Memories and Condolences
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Bill Mallonee
August 24, 2022
I still a great deal about my "luck" & good fortune in meeting Dr. Alan Dan Orme; In spending some 30 years of nurture and education with one of the finest pastors to ever preach and "hold forth the Word of Life."
Dan's departure left a void in the world for so many of us; From my development and nurture from young believer to knowing a bit about who I was and how Jesus's life in me worked, Dan's preaching was there through-out the journey;
1974? I was lucky. I was a student at UGA at the time. I found in Dr. Orme a spiritual father, a mentor. A scholar who held many degrees and was of a reformed Presbyterian nuance. He pastored a small house church in Athens. I was hooked from day one. The church was informal, passionate about the Good News of Christ & intellectually responsible. 30 years of nurture. As I said, I was lucky. So many have to make it up, try on many different hats, or just fake it...
But with Dr. Orme?
Here, I thought, was "the real deal."
I still think that.
Rest in His Lovely Peace, my dearly missed friend! I have a million memories of you, your profound sermons and your life...and all of them hallowed. Thank you, Dan.
A memory, if you will, for I can still see him this way and likely always will: He's reverently approaching his hand-built pulpit in the add-on wing of his house on Church Street, Athens Ga. We, the congregation, straggle in and gather in a large rectangular room for worship, prayers and a sermon. "The Great Room," as he called it. It's all glass windows one one side of that room facing the pulpit. In my mind, for some reason, it's always Fall in full display behind him as we gaze out o'er the back yard.
Dan Orme, with his old Harper Study Bible bound together with blue duct tape...It's pages dog-eared and thin as a blade. A symbol of a man being sent forth into the field of the world. Clearing his throat and peering out over his spectacles at the lot of us, 30-50 folks strong. We are mildly restless, expectant, empty, but hungry all the same. If the goal was to "unpack" one's life before the Lord and, in the Light of His Presence preached thru the Word, become more mature in Christ, I don't think any of us ever walked away disappointed.
Dr. Orme was always so generous with his extensive library. When i lived there at the "Ormatory," I use to sneak a look at his hand scrawled Bible glosses and such...Then I'd peer into one or two of his old "stand-bys" like Louis Berkof's "Systematic Theology."
"There's so much to know!" I thought.
Thank you, Dan. You made the map clearer, the road more real, the fellowship more profound...and the Faith more lovely than any theology book I ever read.
~ Bill Mallonee ~ New Mexico
Stanley Webb
December 29, 2021
Dr Orme
Was my greek professor at Carver Bible College between the years of 1968 and 1969. He was one of the finest Christian man that I have met. May God continue blessing his family.
Respectfully submitted. Rev. Dr. Stanley Webb.
Email: [email protected]
Bill Mallonee
August 24, 2021
Dan, we miss you & we love you, sir,
Thank you for bringing God's word to me...and to so many of us thru those many years at University Church with clarity, wisdom, joy and with the "full confidence" that St. Paul spoke of in Romans 1:16
Bill Mallonee
August 24, 2019
I knew the Rev. Dr. Orme for over 30 years. He knew the Scripture well and his ability to draw from the deep well of it's truth and apply it to every day life was and still is of great help to me on life's journey.
He was one who possessed a love for life & a great sense of humor, as well. His endearing directness & honesty, when it came to counseling believers, made "Dan" a mentor to many.
August 23, 2019
Dr. Orme was one of the most interesting people I have ever met. You could tell that he loved people. His caring manner, wit and wisdom drew me to his little home church community and I still think of him every time I attend services there.
Jim Kenaston
September 8, 2015
I'd like to share five things that characterized Dan's life that meant a lot to those around him:
When Dan moved to Georgia in 1962 he served as Dean of Carver Bible College in Atlanta, a historically black school of training for men entering Christian ministry. Dan refused to attend any church that was not racially integrated, which for the time was an especially isolating stand for him to take.
Throughout his time as minister of University Church Dan never had much more than a poverty-level salary. I'm told that he accepted an artificially low salary on principle, as he believed that he should do all he could to be financially self-supportive. (I'd provide a dollar amount, though by Rwandan or Zambian standards it might seem like a tidy sum.) During his own education and while a pastor he sought to support himself as a builder and a landlord, renting rooms cheaply to students of the university here. He lived lean, but shared everything he had. Most notably he had the gift of hospitality, and he had a strong desire to live a thoughtful Christian life, and in contrast to the prevailing values of the surrounding culture.
For having earned five academic degrees, including a Ph.D., you might think that such a person would have an especially high view of himself. Dan was not at all that way. He never forgot his humble roots, and he was always thankful for the many ways he saw God's grace extended to him as a fallible man very much in need of redemption. For that redemption his trust was firmly placed in the completed work of Christ. I'm thankful to have been among those to witness part of that redemptive process as it was worked out in Dan's life over time.
In an age that badly confuses the pursuit of personal desire with love, Dan modeled for single men like me how to grow into areas of service and to appreciate and love those whom God brings into our life. This kind of love was practical, and it was extended far beyond people who may seem likable or convenient to oneself. I'm forever thankful for his positive example of this.
And in a culture where self-serving and self-promotion are the norm for most, and an art form for some, Dan never seemed motivated by such things. He cared infinitely more about God's view of his choices in life than what you or I might think of such things. He simply lived as He believed a follower of Christ should live, and he left any potential impact on himself and others to God's care. His was a wonderful example for those of us who came to know him well.
September 4, 2015
I've been thinking a lot about the void left in the world for over a week, now. I was lucky. I was a student at UGA at the time. I found in Dr. Orme a spiritual father, a mentor. A scholar who held many degrees and was of a reformed Presbyterian nuance. He pastored a small house church in Athens. I was hooked from day one. The church was informal, passionate about the Good News of Christ & intellectually responsible. 25 years of nurture. As I said, I was lucky. So many have to make it up, try on many different hats, or just fake it...Dan Orme? Here, I thought, was the real deal. I still think that.
RIP, my dear friend. I have a million memories of you, your profound sermons and your life...and all of them hallowed. Thank you, Dan.
I can still see him this way and likely always will: He's reverently approaching his hand-built pulpit in the add-on wing of his house on Church Street, Athens Ga. We straggle in and gather in a large rectangular room for worship, prayers and a sermon. "The Great Room," as he called it. It's all glass windows one one side of that room facing the pulpit. In my mind, for some reason, it's always Fall in full display behind him.
Dan Orme, with his old Harper study Bible bound together with blue duct tape...It's pages dog-eared and thin as a blade.A symbol of a man being sent forth into the field of the world.Clearing his throat and peering out over the lot of us, 25-50 folks strong. We are mildly restless, expectant, empty, but hungry all the same.
Dr. Orme was always so generous with his extensive library. When i lived there at the "Ormatory," I use to sneak a look at his hand scrawled Bible glosses and such...Then I'd peer into one or two of his old "stand-bys" like Louis Berkof's "Systematic Theology."
"There's so much to know!" I thought.
Thank you, Dan. You made the map clearer, the road more real, the fellowship more profound...and the Faith more lovely than any theology book I ever read.
~ Bill Mallonee ~ New Mexico
Ken Roberts
September 3, 2015
A humble man who served his church with love for Christ. I will forever be thankful for Dan and his ability to show me that God's sovereign grace and Christ's redeeming love are boundless.
University Church will always be in my heart as a refreshing bastion of loving friends, living Scripture, prayerful fellowship, caring people and a "home away from home".
Thank you Dan for being a shining light for Christ in Athens, and great example of love, compassion and humility.
Bob Clancy
September 1, 2015
Heaven's gain is our loss. He was a warm & wise man.
Barbara Kellam
September 1, 2015
Dan set me on the path to Christ. I revere his gift to me.
Lorraine Smith Pangle
September 1, 2015
Dan touched me deeply when I attended his church as a high school student in the 1970s. He created a wonderful community and set an example of a reflective life that has stayed with me. I am fortunate to have known him.
Erika White
August 31, 2015
My husband JJ and I attended University Church for most of our college years. We were at UGA from '93 to '96. We got married our senior year of college and had Anna Grace, our daughter, ten short months later. Dan baptized her @ University Church. What stands out most about our time with Dan as our pastor is the warmth of his home, its physical warmth with the wood burning stove on chilly mornings and the warmth of fellowship there. I loved that people stood up and asked for prayer from fellow believers as a part of the worship service. . .and I loved to hear Mr. Pellitier (sp?) pray the Psalms. These are just a few snap-shots of memories in Dr. Orme's home. His life was a beautiful picture of love and service to the body of Christ.
"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."
Denise Hughes
August 31, 2015
Pastor Dan, I am forever grateful for your steadfastness, grace, mercy and hopeful words through the dark trials in my family. You were faithful, kind, an always welcoming soul and a true servant of God Almighty. Truly you were the feet, voice and hands of Christ on this side of Heaven. My sadness is for missing you, but I so rejoice that your suffering has ended forever and ever, and, that now you are the presence of our loving and powerful Savior and Lord and King, Yahushuah. Thank you, Dan, for all that you are and for giving so generously.
Jenn Stublick Jones
August 31, 2015
Thank you for being such a Good pastor and faithful servant during my two years at the Portico.
August 31, 2015
My sincere condolences to the family
Bill Giles
August 31, 2015
I was very sad to hear about the recent passing of Dan Orme. I first met Dan in 1976. As a past member of the church we spent many hours together in his office Library talking about all things great and small. My life and spirit were profoundly enriched through my friendship with him. Dan was a true friend and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to know and share part of my life with him. God rest his soul.
Alice Berry
August 31, 2015
I am so blessed to have been under Dan's teaching for 14 years as I was. His consistency in his actions and his character demonstrated all the proof anyone needed that Christ was in him.
He was also deeply funny, of which I know Our Father approves too!
The mark he made on this Earth is broad. There are hundreds who were members of University Church through the years, as well as students as the Bible college where he was head, so those alone have made a huge impact. But we too have gone forth and spread the Good News, and so the multiplying goes.
We miss our Dan. And I'm so happy to know that I will see him again. But in the meantime, I'm even happier that Dan is now supremely aware of where he is and why he's there - and that he's undoubtedly in perfect bliss.
August 31, 2015
May the God of all comfort be with you during this difficult time in your lives. We all yearn for better conditions. It's refreshing to know that God's word speaks of a time when all sorrows will be gone and that mankind will live in beautiful surroundings with nothing to fear.-Isaiah 65:17,21-24
Betty Carter
August 31, 2015
Friendly, caring, faithful, eccentric, mysterious, surprising, ingenious, baffling, brilliant...he did so much for us and for our friends at university church. We were wild often thoughtless children and he was the slightly oblivious and sometimes frustrating but caring dad who gathered us in his home each week for common meals. He made casseroles with eggs he'd had in his freezer for years. He kept a wine cellar under the "sanctuary" (sun room). He slept in a carved out basement room that you reached through a trap door behind the kitchen. He called us to Sunday meals with a gong that could have woken the dead and a loud "can we pray." The thing I loved about him most, I think, was that he built a unique life that, like his fascinating and architecturally improbable house (the worst sin at chez orme was EVER to call the fire department--even if flames were pouring from the chimney--because there were just so many reasons why they might want to shut the place down) drew people in. He really did do it HIS way, which was a little Saint Paul, a dash of Francis Schaeffer, a bit of Tolkien, and a whole, whole lot of something that found happiness in creating odd little corners (hidey holes, overgrown gardens, ancient bathrooms with pull chain toilets, lofts) for human beings to nestle in and have deep conversations. Dan is someone you probably missed before you even knew him...when you got to that house you said "oh yes! It was this!"
Tracy Molnar
August 31, 2015
Over the years, when travelling to visit my family in Athens, I have attended University Church and consider it my church away from home. I remember Dr.Orme from my sister's wedding until the last visit I was able to chat with him in May 2014. What a fellowship of strong believers has grown from his opening his home and growing this church family. I know he will be so missed, but his legacy will continue to glorify God as they continue on without him. My condolences to the Church family.
Wynay Hand
August 31, 2015
I was honored to have been a visitor at Dr. Orme's church many times over the years. He will be sorely missed by the community. My prayers are with his church and family.
August 30, 2015
my condolences for your loss.
1 Thess.4:14
Cheryl H
August 30, 2015
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6 The Lord preserves the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest;
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
Psalm 116:5-7 ESV
August 30, 2015
May the love of friends and family carry you through your grief.
Bill Mallonee
August 29, 2015
Alan Dan Orme. I can still see him this way and likely always will: He is reverently approaching his hand-built pulpit in the add-on wing of his house on Church Street, Athens Ga. We, the congregation, straggle in and gather in the large rectangular room for worship, prayers and a sermon. "The Great Room," as he called it. It's all glass windows one one side of that room facing the pulpit.
In my mind, for some reason, it's always Fall in full display behind him.
Dr. Alan Dan Orme, with his old Harper study Bible bound together with blue duct tape...
It's pages dog-eared and thin as a blade. A symbol of a man being sent forth into the field of the world.
He clears his throat, peers over his bi-focals and out over the lot of us, 25-50 folks strong. We are mildly restless, expectant, empty, but hungry all the same. We were never disappointed. A great orator, informed, sublime, always endeavoring to "rightly divide the word of truth" for us...
Dr. Orme, you were always so generous with your extensive library. When I lived there at the "Ormatory," I use to sneak a look at your hand scrawled Bible glosses and such; Then I'd peer into one or two of your old "stand-bys" like Louis Berkof's "Systematic Theology."
"There's so much to know!" I thought.
Thank you, Thank you, Dan, for running the good race; for making the map clearer, the road more real, the fellowship more profound...and the Faith more lovely than any theology book I ever read.
Christ's Grace & Peace & Joy, to you my friend,
bill
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