You might be surprised to learn that someone who lived alone on a farm the last 15 years of his life placed such a high value on community, but that was certainly true of Orville Van Thomas Jr. (or “Van” to those who knew him).
Van was born Dec. 20, 1946, in Waynesboro, Va., to O.V. Thomas Sr. and Edna Eoye Thomas. He grew up in nearby Stuarts Draft, Va., and later moved to Carson City, Nev., with his mom and brother, Ralph, following his parents’ divorce. They lived out west a couple years until his mom got sick at which point they were forced to return to Virginia. At the age of 10, Van’s mom died and he moved back in with his dad and stepmom, Lydia. He loved gardening and canning vegetables with Lydia and bowling with his stepsister, Pat. It was also around this time that Van first started playing baseball. He excelled as a knuckleball pitcher in high school. His playing career never panned out, but baseball would forever remain a lifelong passion.
Van enrolled at the College of William and Mary in 1965. Shortly after graduating with a degree in English literature, he met Donna Block and they were married in 1971. After the birth of their first son, Seth, they moved to Ruidoso, N.M., where they both got jobs teaching at the New Mexico’s Boy’s School. Their second son, Jesse, was born two years later. New Mexico was a great place to raise a family. They explored far and wide, hiking in the mountains and visiting all the national parks.
Van and Donna pulled up stakes again in 1981, this time heading north. They eventually chose Moscow as their base of operations and set about scouting the surrounding towns. According to Van, settling in Troy was a natural fit. He ran into Roger Swanson, the district superintendent, and the two began talking. In the span of time it took Van to walk to the grocery store and back, he had a new job, a rental house and a storage barn for all their belongings. That’s when Van and Donna finally started putting down roots.
Starting out, Van taught English and history at Troy High School. He loved language above all else. Some of his favorite activities included teaching kids how to diagram sentences and explaining curious word origins. Music was also very important to him and over time he amassed a huge record collection. After teaching for three years, Van stepped into a new role as the principal of Troy High School. He was proud of the teachers he worked with and held everyone to an extremely high standard. He worked long hours, like all teachers, but he always found time to support his wife and sons. Family was his top priority.
Van took early retirement in 2009 to care for Donna, who passed away soon after. Van spent his remaining years tucked away on his farm, marveling that he had never lived in one place as long as he had Troy. He loved all the barn cats that gravitated to him, naming each one with care. He sketched out elaborate family trees to keep them all straight — “Lizzie Beth” begat “Bumpy” and “Whizzer” and “Litter Feller,” and so on. After his sons moved away, he would regularly send them newspaper clippings to keep them “rooted” in the community, or just simple 3x5 cards in his elegant handwriting letting them know that “Everything is AOK here.”
Van was diagnosed with lung cancer in July 2024. He passed away in Boise from related complications on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. He was preceded in death by his brother, Ralph, his sister, Julie, and his wife, Donna. He is survived by his two sons, Seth (Beret Norman) and Jesse (Kate Cabe), his grandkids, Solveig, Niko and Molly, his stepsister, Pat, and his brother, Charles.
Donations in Van’s memory may be directed to your local food bank or humane society. Or you can cut out this obituary and send it to someone who’s moved away from the area. Maybe doing that will help them keep a little piece of home in their hearts. Van would have liked that.
