Victor White Bird Orange

Victor White Bird (Vé'késȯhvó'komaestse) Orange was not born in a hospital, but was delivered by old medicine people of his tribe. His mother was Bertha Orange and his father was Fred Hoffman. He was given to his Aunt Maxine Candy, who raised him for the first two years of his life, and then to his Great-Grandmother Voostah (White Buffalo Woman) and Perry Reynolds, who raised him until about the age of 5 or 6 when they both passed on. From then on, he was raised by his grandma Laura Black Bear and his grandfather Emil Miles.

Victor was a high school basketball star and graduated from Hammon High School in 1963. He met his first wife, Janet, in Taos, and they married in 1974. In 1976, they adopted their first daughter, LaDonna, whose mother was Cynthia Donna Whiteskunk, from the hospital when she was born. In 1977, the three of them moved to the Bay Area in California, where he began studies at the University of California, Berkeley in engineering. They had their second daughter, Carrie, in 1979. Victor graduated in 1980 with a B.A. in Native American Studies and a minor in engineering. In 1982, they had their third child, a son, Tommy.

After graduating from Cal, Victor began working at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, earning his State of California engineering license in 1987 and remaining with the lab until his early retirement in 1995. He divorced his first wife, Janet, in 1996. Victor had his second son, Austin, in 2000, and his third daughter, Hope, in 2002, both with his second wife, Prairie Lundberg (now Prairie Boulmier); they married in 2002. In 2005, he was diagnosed with Stage IV lymphoma and was cured of cancer in ceremony that same year. Victor met his third wife, Kayt Schneider (now Kayt Whitebird Orange), in 2006, and they married in 2007, later divorcing in late 2016.

Victor lived with his daughter Carrie and Ezra Lehi in Oklahoma from 2014 to 2024. During that time, he worked for the tribe toward the revitalization of the Cheyenne language. He lived with and was cared for by his son Austin and his daughter Hope for the past year and a half of his life.

In mid-July, Victor went to the hospital for gallbladder surgery, then ended up in the ICU. After making a miraculous recovery out of the ICU over a period of about two weeks, he succumbed to an infection resulting from the initial surgery, and passed away peacefully at 4:31 p.m. at Rust Presbyterian Hospital in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

In many ways Victor lived many lives, made family and friends everywhere he went, and never stopped praying for those he loved. He knew a thousand peyote songs and a thousand jokes. The only thing he loved more than being with his family or being in ceremony was telling a good joke and making people laugh—and he did, all the way up until the very end. He was one of the last fluent language speakers of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. Victor will be dearly missed by all who knew him.

He is survived by his brothers Melvin, Ricky, and Rector Candy; his sisters Laura and Veronica Candy; and his children, LaDonna Orange, Carrie Lehi, Tommy Orange, Austin Orange, and Hope Orange. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Christina Pedersen, Felix Orange, Faith Rodriguez, Ella Lehi, Wesley Lehi, and Solomon Orange; and his great-grandchildren, Ares Ira Evans, Halea Faith Evans, and Isla Jane Pedersen.

His wake will take place on Sunday, August 30, at the Hammon Emergency Response Center (ERC), 20415 Hwy 33, Hammon, OK 73650, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The funeral service will take place on Monday, August 31, at the Hammon School Auditorium, 802 East Shockey, Hammon, OK 73650, at 12:00 p.m. Under the direction of the Lee Hometown Funeral Home.

Serving as pallbearers will be Ricky Candy, Wyatt Candy, Collin Candy, Franklin Byrd, Zain Martinez, Jordan Roque, and Andrew Miles, Silas Miles.