Orville F. Taecker

Orville F. Taecker, age 95, of Watertown, SD, passed away peacefully on Monday, October 6, 2025, in Watertown, SD. Funeral services will be at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, October 17, 2025, at St. Martins Lutheran Church in Watertown, SD, alongside with his brother Marlyn's funeral. Rev. Paul Kuckhahn will officiate. Music will be provided by Suzy Steinmetz as organist. The funeral service will be live-streamed via our website.
Visitation will be at the Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel in Watertown on Thursday, October 16, 2025, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. and prior to services at the church on Friday.
Burial will be Mt. Hope Cemetery in Watertown. Military graveside honors will be conducted by Codington County Post #17 of the American Legion, Watertown, and the Funeral Honors Team of the U.S. Navy.
Orville Fredrick Taecker was born May 13, 1930, to George "Oscar" and Gladys (Neuendorf) Taecker in Memorial Hospital, Watertown SD. He attended the one room rural Gardner School and graduated from Watertown High School in 1949. Orville enlisted and served in the United States Navy as an Airplane Electrician from August 1951 through August 1955. He served in Africa, Morocco, London, England and Memphis, TN. Following his honorable discharge, he returned to Watertown and worked on the family farm, and then for Swift & Co before starting Taecker Plumbing and Heating in 1957. On July 15th of this year, Orville celebrated 68 years in business. He stood firmly behind the motto – The Business that Service Built.
While stationed in London, he met Doreen Firminger, his landlady's 'red headed hairdresser' on a blind date. They were married on May 8, 1954, in London, honeymooned in Paris and 3 months later were transferred to Memphis, TN. After his discharge from the Navy, they moved to Watertown. Orville and Doreen celebrated 56 years of marriage before Doreen passed away in 2010.
With strong family values instilled by his parents, Orville was a 4-H Leader when his children were 4-H members and was instrumental in creating the 4-H Leaders Association Trust Fund to provide additional financial support to the 4-H Program. For the 1973-74 school year, Orville and Doreen welcomed a Chilean exchange student to the family, Jorge Rodriguez. When Paul played Legion Baseball, Orville stepped up to be the Post 17 Athletic Director and drove the team bus to games all over the region. Summers were spent camping with family and friends and included many hours pulling water skiers across area lakes. In later years, he took his sons and grandsons fishing both locally and on trips to Canada.
Sunday dinners together were a long-time Taecker Tradition which Orville continued by welcoming all family and their guests to his tables. The one rule was that you take your cap off when you sit at his table! Four generations at one table was a family tradition he proudly carried on from his parents whether there were many or few at the table.
In 1978, Orville and Doreen built the store that currently houses Andor Inc. – Taecker Plumbing and Heating. Until this summer, you'd find Orville at work, every day in his 2nd home – his store. Customers were friends and he always enjoyed a visit when anyone stopped to say hello. He celebrated his 95th birthday with an open house at the store visiting with customers, friends and family.
Championing entrepreneurs and local businesses was also very important to Orville, and he worked to establish the Uptown Association, later the Watertown Business Association which produced the Holiday Lighted Parade for over 25 years. He was a proud member and supporter of many national organizations that lobby for small business friendly legislation. Giving back with your time and talents is a strong Taecker tradition which he embraced and encouraged.
Orville was passionate about supporting the p-h-c industry and was actively involved in both the State and National Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors (PHCC) associations. He served on the SDPHCC Board of Directors as a zone director, Treasurer, Secretary, Vice-President and President.
With a passion for developing the next generation of professionals in the p-h-c industry, Orville became the leader and driving force in establishing the South Dakota Educational Foundation leveraging the relationships he developed to start a local scholarship fund. Not only did he support the South Dakota scholarship fund, but he was also a consistent Top Contributor of the National PHCC Educational Foundation which provides scholarships for high school students pursuing p-h-c related education.
In service to the National PHCC, Orville held offices, served for 4 years as a National Zone Director and on the National Education and Leadership Committees. In 2006, Orville joined the National PHCC Educational Foundation Board of Governors.
Orville and Doreen enjoyed traveling to many of the PHCC National Conventions across the country – usually by car and used it as an excuse to explore the US. After Doreen's passing, Orville continued to attend conventions with Paul and Julie to maintain the friendships he'd built with fellow contractors.
Orville was a lifelong member of St. Martin's and Bethlehem Lutheran Churches where he served in various leadership roles. Orville attended church services nearly every Sunday throughout his life. Special thanks to his 'church buddy' Al Stoltenburg.
Orville was preceded in death by his wife Doreen, his parents Oscar and Gladys, his sister Edith, and brother-in-law Russell Betts. His brother Marlyn survived him by one day. He is survived by his children, Alan (Sue) Taecker, Ann Taecker, and Paul (Julie) Taecker all of Watertown, SD, grandchildren, Benjamin (Pam) Taecker, David (Teresa) Taecker, Sara Taecker, and 4 great-grandchildren Autumn, Aubrey, Ethan and Natalie and Exchange Student Jorge Rodriguez of Santiago, Chile. Also surviving are his brother Jim (Mavis) Taecker of South Shore SD, sisters Jean (William) Smith of New Hope Minn., Faye Betts of Mondovi Wis, Karen (Robert) Heemeyer of Burnsville Minn, and Christine (Robert) Lindgren of Forest Lake Minn, 15 nieces and nephews and numerous great-nieces and nephews. Also close to his heart were Monica Ries and all the employees of Taecker P&H, past and present, whom he considered family.
In lieu of flowers, Orville would have been pleased for any memorials directed to the SDPHCC Scholarship Fund, or the PHCC National Scholarship Fund, or the Great Plains Student Scholarship Fund.
Arrangements by Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel www.crawfordosthus.com Watertown and Hayti
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