Oran Oakey

1925 - 2022

Oran Oakey

November 7, 1925 - April 18, 2022

Oran Odell Oakey passed away peacefully on Monday, April 18, 2022, in Charlottesville, where he lived all of his 96 years except for the period of his military service during World War II.

Oran was born on November 7, 1925, to the late William H. and Daisy Dettor Oakey. He graduated from Lane High School in 1943 and entered the Air Force Enlisted Reserve Corps. He wished to become a pilot, but his hearing didn't pass muster.

Oran entered active duty in the fall of 1943 and was sent to Italy, where he was assigned to an oxygen-making unit until 1946. After his service, Oran attended the University of Virginia School of Architecture and briefly worked for a local architectural firm as a draftsman. Most of his years of employment were at Acme Visible Records and U.S. Instrument Corp./Comdial as a supervisor in manufacturing.

Oran was a lifelong member of the First Presbyterian Church, where in his younger days he was an usher and an assistant scoutmaster. He was a 62-year member of the Widow's Sons' Masonic Lodge No. 60.

Though Oran was a mostly quiet observer of life, he was always ready with a quick-witted remark, and his dry humor was endearing to many. His myriad interests included golf, fishing, bowling, and working in his extensive and immaculately kept vegetable garden. He was an enthusiastic hobbyist who always had several projects going. As a skilled woodworker, he created intricate designs using the marquetry technique. He also painted with oils and enjoyed quirkier activities, such as rug-hooking, necktie-making, crafting boomerangs, and reupholstering his wife's 1966 VW Beetle. Oran also dabbled in music, teaching himself how to play the electric keyboard and harmonica. An avid periodicals reader, he especially looked forward to perusing each new issue of National Geographic and Smithsonian Magazine from cover to cover.

Oran and his wife of 71 years, Nancy Tyler Oakey, traveled extensively around the world. Together they visited most of North America, the Caribbean, and Western Europe, along with Turkey, Russia, Croatia, Australia, Fiji, and parts of South and Central America. Oran was an avid photographer and videographer, and he chronicled their adventures, capturing and framing their many beautiful memories to enjoy at home. Once he could no longer travel, Oran delighted in using Google Earth to traverse the globe from the comfort of his desk chair.

Oran was preceded in death by his brothers, Charles S. Oakey and Joseph H. Oakey, and his half-sister, Louise Woods Jarman. In addition to Nancy, he is survived by his daughter, Leslie Oakey, and her husband, Brian Sands, of Alexandria, Va., along with his sisters, Shirley Oakey Perry, of Springfield, Va., and Nancy Oakey Brown, and her husband, Richard Brown, of Winter Garden, Fla.

A memorial service will be planned in the coming months.

Cremation Society of Virginia

305 Rivanna Plaza Drive Suite 102, Charlottesville, Virginia, 22901