Irvin Hutton Ornduff
September 5, 1935 ~ February 17, 2019
Resided in:
Black Mountain, North Carolina
Asheville Butterfly Trail
Irvin Hutton Ornduff, 83, of Black Mountain, passed away on February 17, 2019, after a long illness.
Born September 5, 1935, in Abingdon, Virginia, to the late Stuart and Lillie (Henry) Ornduff, Irvin graduated from Abingdon High in 1954 and received a Bachelor of Arts in History from The College of William and Mary in 1958. He continued his education, receiving his M.A. Ed. in School Counseling from Western Carolina University in 1970.
Irvin taught history in Fairfax County, VA and Virginia High School (Bristol, Virginia) before moving to Asheville in 1963. During his almost four decade career at The Asheville School, his duties included Director of Studies and College Counseling, Senior Master, Blue and White advisor, and instructor of English and History. He was the chief representative for The Asheville School with various organizations, including The College Board, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, English-Speaking Union Secondary School Exchange and the Governor’s School of North Carolina.
His wife of almost 51 years, Ann Cox Ornduff, passed away on July 9, 2015. He is survived by daughter, Laura Ann Ornduff; brothers, Malcolm Ornduff (Joy Bray) and Larry Ornduff (Colleen); and sisters, Joyce Ornduff and Karen Ornduff. An older sister, Myrtle Ornduff Gentry, passed away in 2017.
Services will be held on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. in the Chapel of Groce Funeral Home on Patton Avenue with Mr. William Peebles officiating. Burial will immediately follow at Mountain View Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to The Asheville School Irvin Ornduff Master Teaching Endowment, 360 Asheville School Road, Asheville, NC 28806.
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Laura,
So sorry for the loss of your dad. He was one of a kind and most revered at Asheville School.
I’m so sorry to miss the service Tuesday as I’m out of town this week. But, know my thoughts will be with you then.
Best,
Betsey Ambler
So sorry to hear this news, Laura. Please know my heart and prayers are with you. He was truly a great man.
Thinking of you in this difficult time, and I’m glad we all were able to make the last days a little easier for you, knowing how much he influenced decades of students and friends.
So sad to hear this. Irv was my biggest cheerleader when I became Dean of Students in 1999 at AS. Love to Laura and family.
So sorry to hear this, Laura – he was a wonderful mentor and guided so many of us with his wisdom and wit through the years – thinking of you and sending love and prayers.
Our sincere condolences to the Ornduff family. Mr. Ornduff was a big influence in my brother’s and my life at Asheville in 2000. He was always encouraging albeit demanding and sought to bring out the best in us.
Rest in peace.
I am so saddened to hear of Irv’s passing. I went to Asheville School (’91-’94) and he was so helpful (and direct!) about schools I could get into and not with my crappy SAT scores at the time. It was such a new and seemingly massive task at the time to narrow schools down, and he was so great.
Fast forward 23+ years later, when helping my step kids narrow school choices, and thinking- ‘Why doesn’t your school have a College Counselor?’ Well, they did, but none of them were anywhere near as knowledgeable as Irv.
To his family- I am comforted in knowing he is with his wife again. Wishing you comfort and peace in your great loss. May God bless you and keep you.
Karen and Joyce, our thoughts are with you during this time of grieving. May God bless you with His peace and comfort. Steve and Nancy Byrd
Dear Laura, I hope you are surrounded by family and dear friends finding solace and comfort in the richness of your father’s life. Teachers bring stability, they bring hope, and they encourage us to seek our dreams – your father did all of this and more when I knew him at Asheville School. He certainly helped start me off on the path I wanted back in 1982, and nearly 20 years ago, when Pam Reid told him I was going back to school to be a teacher myself, he reached out again to encourage me still. <3
Fond memories of Mr. Ornduff including signature black Rose in finals, but
I did learn English , still have the disciple he instilled, that’s how great teachers are forever.
Payers and may God give you comfort in your loss.
My condolences to Laura and family. Irv was a guiding light who offered so much encouragement to me when I was a new teacher. Much love and respect.
So sorry to hear this news, Laura, and so sorry for your loss. I have nothing but fond memories of your dad. He was a genuinely great person and an Asheville School legend. Wishing peace to you and your family.
Please express my condolences over the loss of a living legend. Mr. Ornduff touched so many of us during our time at the Asheville School. We are so blessed to have enjoyed his company and guidance. Thank you Mr. Orduff for your unrivaled commitment. God bless you and all of your loved ones.
This is such a loss! I am so thankful that I was able to tell Irv to his face what an impact he had on me as a student. He was strict in a gentle way. He asked a lot of us in his class and I think that’s why he may have gotten more than some students thought they would give. I was sad when I heard that he was no longer the fourth form English teacher but the fact that he did so many other things just shows that he had a broad range of talents. I think Matthew 25:23 says it best: ‘… Well done, good and faithful servant!’ He will be very missed.
I first met Irv at Camp Sequoyah on 1960 and was glad when he arrived at Asheville School in 1963. he was an excellent teacher and more important, a friend, to hundreds od students during his 37 years of sevice. He demanded excellent in everything students did. If Irv suggested to a college that a student was worthy of admission, that was often enough to secure a place. He had a sly sense of humor and was a joy to be with. I shall always remember him with great affection.
He was a vile, disgusting man. I suspect now he suffered from Narcissistic Personality Disorder and was perhaps a Sociopath. I was one of the few willing to stand up in class and challenge his mistakes of fact. He detested me as I did him. One of my main memories of him was when a group of us were discussing Shakespeare’s Othello in our dorm while he was passing by (I still have no idea why he was in our dorm) listened for a moment and said “Who’s Iago?”
He was my autocratic, narcissistic English teacher and demanded to know who was Iago, even though he was teaching Othello to us. So glad I dropped out of The Asheville School and spent my senior year at the local public high school, which was excellent.