Rachel (MacFawn) Orser of Oromocto, wife of the late Carl Forrest Orser, passed away Thursday, April 22, 2010 at the Oromocto Public Hospital at age 84. Rachel was born on October 26, 1925, on York Street in Fredericton to Archibald Douglas MacFawn and Jessie Serina Alberta (Blizzard) MacFawn. Her family moved to Saint John. When she was 16, she got her first job; she was a sales clerk at The Federal Store, a department store. She met Forrest when he started working there the next year. They were married on June 30, 1950. While her husband built a trucking business that at its height had 10 trucks, they also ran a small motel on Manawagonish Road. Rachel did a lot of the work, including cleaning rooms and then renting them.
She was Pentecostal and was active in her church all her life. About 1970, Forrest became assistant pastor of Crescent Valley Community Church in Saint John. After that he and Rachel pastored the Timber River Pentecostal Church and then the Coles Island Pentecostal Church. As a minister's wife her wide-ranging duties included such things as helping with social activities and counseling church members. In 1993, Forrest was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. For years she took care of her husband as his condition slowly grew worse. The last two years she was assisted by Red Cross Homemakers. She was predeceased by Forrest on February 8, 2006. She is survived by a daughter, Jane Fox of Fredericton; two sons, Michael (Kathy) of Oromocto and Forrest (Glenda) of Fredericton; a brother, James MacFawn (Sandra) of Saint John; a sister, Alma Cameron of Calgary, Alta.; three grandchildren, Jessica, Paul and Davis; one great-grandchild, Angelique.
Visitation will be Saturday, April 24th, 2010 from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at Oromocto Funeral Home.The service will be held at the funeral home chapel on Sunday, April 25th at 2:30 p.m. Donations may be made to the Cancer Society, the Parkinson's Society or the Red Cross. Online condolences can be made at www.oromoctofh.com, 357-5100.