Orville Bultsma

Orville passed away on July 16, 2023, at the Pella Regional Heath Center, Hospice Comfort House at the age of 62.

Life began on a Saturday in October when a young boy entered the world, son of Chester and Jennie (Dykman) Bultsma, in Yankton SD.  He joined an older brother, Roland, a sister Arlene, and a brother Vic.  Baby sister Genevieve came a few years later.  Orville’s life was challenging as the youngest son trying to keep up with his older brothers.  Life on the family farm taught Orville the hard work ethic that would serve him well for the rest of his life. 

He attended Platte Christian Grade School and graduated from Dakota Christian High School in 1978.  He despised English class so chose to go to a two-year vocational program after high school to study electronics.  After graduating, he worked in a hometown television shop repairing televisions.  In 1982, Orville eagerly joined the family farming operation full-time when they rented more farmland from a neighbor.

A farm accident in 1984 changed Orville’s life.  While applying anhydrous ammonia to a field, the nurse tank became unhitched from the applicator while turning around and the hose came crashing through the cab window, striking Orville on the right side of the head.  The rest of that summer was spent recovering from the paralysis that resulted from the accident, learning how to walk, talk, and take care of himself again but he was not able to regain his abilities to work on the farm. 

Because of his love of farming, in January of 1987 he decided to pursue an engineering degree at SDSM&T (South Dakota School of Mines & Technology) in Rapid City SD.  School was challenging but not overwhelming.  In the spring of 1989, he interviewed with John Deere & Co. on campus for a summer engineering position.  After graduating, he went on to accept a position in Facilities Engineering at the John Deere Foundry in Waterloo, Iowa.  He worked at Deere’s for the next 25 years.

On August 25, 2000, on a blind date, Orville met his future wife, Teresa Fuller.  They married exactly one year later on August 25, 2001, in Cedar Falls.  Together they became foster parents and adopted two daughters.

They were blessed with Tessa Joy on August 1, 2007, and Kaylee Lynn on December 15, 2009. 

 After holding numerous engineering positions over the 25 years at Deere plants in Waterloo, Orville sought a new challenge in 2014 by applying to Vermeer Manufacturing in Pella, Iowa.  He accepted a position as a system engineer in the Underground Group.  He enjoyed the benefits of working for a company that held biblical principles, people, product, and profit as their core values.  Despite his accident as a young man, Orville contributed to the cutting edge of agricultural technology and shared his love of farming by helping farmers during a long and successful engineering career.

Orville was a member of Calvary Christian Reformed Church, serving as elder, led and participated in men’s bible studies.  Following a brief illness, his wife Teresa passed away on June 6, 2019.  In late March 2023, Orville was diagnosed with an inoperable glioblastoma (brain tumor) and passed away on July 16, 2023.

Those left to cherish his memory are his daughters: Tessa, (Cedar Falls) and Kaylee, (Parkersburg); siblings Roland (Deb) Bultsma (Platte SD), Arlene (Harvey) Ymker (Corsica SD), Vic Bultsma (Platte SD), and Genevieve (Bernard) Schelling (Armour SD); mother-in-law Joice Fuller (Waterloo, IA); Teresa’s sisters: Rebecca (Neil) Mills (Ainsworth, IA), Fonda Fuller (Waterloo, IA), and Karla (Ray) Ainsworth (Independence, IA). 

Orville was preceded in death by his grandparents: Thaeke and Rena Bultsma and Fred and Alice Dykman; parents Chester in 1987 and Jennie in 2017; niece Jessica (Schelling) Schaeffer in 2019, and his father-in-law Rex Fuller in 2021. 

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