Orval Albert Harold

Orval Albert Harold

Nov. 16, 1916 - May 13, 2013

COLUMBIA, Missouri -- Orval Albert Harold, 96, of Columbia, Missouri, died Friday (May 31, 2013).

He was born Nov. 16, 1916, on a farmstead near Dresden, Kansas, to Albert Harold and Vera Bates Harold.

He graduated from Decatur County High School in Oberlin, Kansas. In 1940, he married Mildred Chappell and attended Kansas State University until the onset of World War II. He entered military service in June 1941 and was assigned to the 63rd Infantry Regiment as an Infantry Unit Commander. He saw combat in the Pacific Theater, mainly in the jungles of New Guinea. The soldiers of the 63rd Regiment were entitled to wear the Combat Infantryman Badge.

Following his military service, he returned to Kansas State University and completed his formal education, earning a degree in agriculture. He worked with the United States Department of Agriculture and worked in various assignments throughout Kansas as a soil conservationist until he retired in 1977 in Manhattan, Kansas.

After the death of his wife, he moved to Dodge City, Kansas, and married Fran Foster. Following her death in 2001, he moved to Columbia to be closer to family and met and married Eula Simmons, who also preceded him in death.

He was preceded in death by two brothers, Lloyd and Cloyce Harold, and a daughter, Barbara Clark of Columbia.

He is survived by a daughter, Nancy Kautz of Columbia; brother, Gale Harold and wife, Dee of Omaha, Nebraska; two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be Saturday, June 15, 2013, at 11 a.m. at Pauls Funeral Home, Oberlin, Kansas. Burial with military honors will be at the Oberlin Cemetery.

Pauls Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.