Grace Belle Orton

Grace Belle Orton, 105, of Rock Island, IL, passed away April 3, 2019, at her home. Services will be Monday, April 8 th , at 2:00 p.m., at Wendt Funeral Home in Moline, IL, with a one-hour visitation prior to the service beginning at 1:00.  Burial will be in Greenview Memorial Gardens in East Moline. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Baptist Church or Unity Point Hospice Home Care. Grace Belle McBride was born in Akeley, MN, on February 3, 1914, to Curtis C. and Alice Mabel McBride.  In Hot Springs, SD, at midnight on December 31, 1935, she married Thomas N. Orton, and began their 53-year partnership at the first stroke of 1936.  He preceded her in death in 1988. Grace and Tom adopted a brother and a sister as their own children, which later gave them four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.  After high school, Grace was a member of the National Honor Society at Commercial College.  Grace’s husband and all five of her brothers were drafted into WWII, and Grace worked during the war at the Rock Island Arsenal, Filling survival back-packs for the men at the front.  Later, she worked at the Arsenal in the Payroll Department.  Grace was a lifetime member of the American Baptist Church, receiving the Crown Award in 2013 for support of disabled children.  During her involvement with the church, she was a teacher, chaired boards committees, was financial secretary, president of Women’s Ministries, formed a Bible Study Group, was church clerk, sang in the choir, was a co-leader of youth work, and formed a Junior High Youth Group under the Reverend Ralph Brink.  During several years that she lived in Tucson, AZ, she did volunteer work for the Tucson Public Library. Survivors include her daughter, Tina Orton; son, Michael (Cheryl) Orton; four grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and many nephews and nieces. In addition to her husband and her parents, she was preceded in death by five brothers, Floyd, Howard, Owen, Charles, and Thurman McBride, and two sisters, Ellen McBride Fish and Inez McBride Kappleman.

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