George E. Orwig II, a forty-seven year member of the Lycoming Law Association, died on June 8, 2006.  He was remembered in an en banc court session held Friday, September 22, 2006.

Read the memorial resolutions:

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In The Court Of Common Pleas Of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania

IN THE MATTER OF THE DEATH OF GEORGE E. ORWIG, II., ESQUIRE

RESOLUTIONS OF THE COMMITTEE

TO THE HONORABLE, THE JUDGES OF SAID COURT:

The Committee appointed by your Honorable court to prepare resolutions concerning the death of George E. Orwig II reports as follows:

George Orwig was born in Williamsport on December 6, 1933. He was the son of Donald and Lucille Orwig.

He graduated from Williamsport High Schoolin 1951. George graduated from Dickinson Collegein 1954 with an AB degree and received his LLB from its law school in 1957. He qualified to be on the Dickinson Law Review Staff and was Business Manager of the Law Review his senior year.

While in law school, George enlisted in the Army and participated in training to be commissioned in the Judge Advocate General’s Corp following graduation. But when the armed forces were cut and no commissions readily available, he received his honorable discharge in1962.

Following law school, George explored another career, working as a special agent for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company for a year and a half till he passed the bar exam. Be was admitted to the Lycoming County Bar on May 7, 1959 and immediately opened his office in the Williamsport Building, sharing office space with insurance agent Ron Seewald. George maintained the same address throughout his law practice for more than 45 years.

George was appointed as Solicitor for the Lycoming County Register and Recorder in 1968, serving under both Mary Mosser and Annabel Miller till his retirement at the end of 2005 and enjoyed helping with the design and layout of the office in the new Courthouse.

Over his career, he served as Solicitor for nearly a dozen townships and boroughs.

In 1976 he was appointed as a Review Officer for the Lycoming/ Clinton County Mental Health and Mental Retardation Office, presiding over hundreds of involuntary commitment hearings at local and area hospitals, also serving continuously till his retirement.

George served two three month stints as a Public Defender prior to the office becoming full time in 1969. For several years, he was Assistant County solicitor and later took over the Legal Aid Program, running it out of his office.

George joined the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the American Bar Association in 1959 after his local admission. He served as Treasurer of the Lycoming Law Association in 1964 through 1974 and was elected President in 1991.

Right after he started practicing law, George took a part-time job with Blue cross of Northeastern PA as a service representative covering Lycoming and Clinton Counties. George drove the company’s Volkswagen bus which was one of the original ones imported into the USA, so it was underpowered. George described going up long mountain roads as “like driving a Greyhound Bus over the Rockies!”

George was a charter member of the Northway United Presbyterian Church and served on its first Board of Deacons. In 1966, he was ordained a Ruling Elder and served for a number of years in that capacity.

Throughout his life he contributed much to the community at large in many various capacities.

He was an active member in the Bloomingrove Historical Society, the Williamsport Consistory, and chaired the Williamsport Jaycees “Williamsport City Centennial” in 1966.

George was an incorporator of the Williamsport Players, and a founding member of the Millbrook Playhouse, serving on the original Board of Directors and as President in 1969, 70 and 71.

In 1962, he was asked to become a board member of the Epilepsy society of Lycoming Countyand served as local president from 1965 till 1977. He served on the national board of the Epilepsy Foundation of America. For many years, his office was used as the Chapter headquarters, with George and his secretary Helen Hetzel coordinating the board’s work and fund-raising.

As George grew up on High Street in Williamsport, he was fascinated by the new cars and trucks he saw being hauled to dealerships. For years, he kept running totals of the new cars that he saw and as his senior theme wrote “From the Horseless Carriage to the Automobile”. As a law student in Carlisle, George went over to Hershey to see antique car shows. His interest in antique cars and trucks led George in 1963 to join the Antique Automobile Club of America. He helped the local chapter become accredited as the Susquehannock Region. George chaired the first three car shows held at Bowman Field in 1963, 64 and 65. For his long-time efforts, including being unofficial legal counsel for the National Board, George received four national awards from the Antique Automobile Club of America. His comprehensive collection of materials compiled over 40 years was presented to the James V. Brown Library as part of the City’s Centennial in 1966.

Surviving him is his significant other, Arlene Dunlop; four children, Sandra Orwig of Roslyn, Jeffrey Orwig of Paris, Maine, and twins, David Orwig of Gardner, Massachusetts and Denise Orwig of Baltimore, Maryland; three grandchildren, Taylor, Nathan and Hanna, and a cousin, Louise Barnhart of Ligonier.

During the last several summers, George and Arlene enjoyed attending the Williamsport Crosscutters games.

When asked to pen some answers for “A Keepsake of Personal Memoirs” in 2001, George summed up his feelings by saying, “The legal profession has changed so very much in the years that I have been practicing, but there has still been room for someone like me that likes to help people get through crises and through procedural paperwork that has gotten more and more complicated through the years I have often stated that in recent years it has taken about three times as long to get from A to B in many situations, but unfortunately, the results are still the same and people still need help getting through these situations.”

"I have always felt that everyone needs help with legal matters, especially what I call the ‘little people’. I have always tried to help these folks, and have always attempted to do so without being unreasonable in my charging for what I do. I probably could have earned much more over the years, but have chosen not to ‘overbill’ people for my services.”

George’s family has lost a loved and loving father and grandfather, and our community has lost an effective and contributing member.

Your Committee recommends the adoption of the following Resolution:

BE IT RESOLVED that in the passing of George E. Orwig, II there has been a loss to the Bar of Lycoming County of an able and conscientious member who practiced and upheld the highest traditions of the legal profession, a loss to the community of a valued participant, a loss to his family of a kind and loving father, and grandfather, and a loss to his friends and acquaintances of a sincere and caring man.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Court and this Bar hereby extends to Arlene Dunlop, and to his children and grandchildren, a deep and heartfelt expression of sympathy by this Resolution.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution be spread at length upon the Minutes of the Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming County, and that copies of the same be sent to his family.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

John A. Felix, Esquire, Chairman
Charles A. Szybist, Esquire
Paul W. Wertman, Esquire
Robert C. Wise, Esquire