Lureen (Rencher) Orchard

Lureen Rencher was born in her grandma’s house in Snowflake, Arizona, on Christmas Eve 1937 to Joseph Lynn and Aften Flake Rencher.  Her family moved a couple of years later to Manhattan Beach, California, and then ten years later to Farmington, New Mexico.  In Farmington, they had a 10-acre farm, and Mom thrived there.  She and her younger brother often played cowboys. Lureen (LR) would be the Lone Ranger, and Ron (RR) would be Roy Rogers or Red Rider.  Among the many chores of farm life, she was happier irrigating the fields than helping in the house.   Later, on trips from Cañon City to Snowflake, she would often take her young children to the property, where the only thing that remained was the old cottonwood tree with steps nailed to the trunk that let her climb high into the limbs.  While she lost her tomboy character as an adult, she always preferred irrigating our pasture and working outside in the yard.

Lureen graduated from Farmington High School and then went to Brigham Young University, where she got her teaching certificate and began what would be her primary mark on the world.  None of us can figure exactly how long she was in a school environment, but we joke that she retired 14 times.  She worked for a few years in California and in Utah, but most of her teaching years were in Cañon City.  She retired the first time in 1995, but she went back in a variety of capacities until Covid shut down the schools in 2020 when she officially hung up her lanyard for the last time.  Until very recently, she continued to tutor a few students in her home

Lureen met Ken R Orchard while teaching in Salt Lake City.  They married on December 12, 1966.  Lanae and Lynn were both born in Salt Lake and then the family moved to Colorado, briefly in Aurora and then to Cañon.  Amy was born while the family lived in the little house on Greenwood.  Jeanette and Leah were born after Mom and Dad built the house on Piñon in Brookside.  During those years Mom was often at school late into the night, especially when report cards were due or before parent-teacher conferences.  She and Dad were also busy with jobs in their church, local politics, and family history.  Mom and Dad were great examples of being committed to their marriage even through really rough times.  During their later years, Mom frequently said that she and Dad were happier together than they had ever been.

Mom’s life was turned upside down when Dad was killed and their home burned during a home invasion robbery in May of 2018.  She lost her husband, her home, and most of her belongings.  The community and family rallied around her, and she was able to put enough pieces back together to keep going, but her heart was always with Dad.  In 2020 she learned that she had cancer, and she hoped that it would be her “ticket out.”  She didn’t want to be alive long enough to have to go through the trial.  Despite that wish, she was alive for the 2022 trial and was a strong and important part of advocating for justice for Dad.  The cancer finally started making its move toward the end of last year.  Mom left us on February 27, and we are certain she was singing “Zippity Doo Dah” all the way back to her heavenly home.

Lureen is survived by her dear sister Velda Anderson and her brother Dennis Rencher, her “5 originals,” 18 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren.

The funeral will be on Monday, March 10, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—1435 Elm Ave in Cañon City.

In lieu of flowers, the family would like you to donate school supplies to your local elementary school.  If you will be attending the funeral, baskets will be available for your donations, which will be delivered to a school in Cañon.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Lureen (Rencher) Orchard, please visit our floral store.