- Date Of Birth: October 1, 1921
- Date Of Death: August 28, 2014
- State: New Mexico
OLONA, ORLANDO R. Orlando R. Olona, Msgt. USAF, Retired 22 years Eccl: 3:1-2 “There is a time for every affair under the heavens — a time to be born and a time to die.”
Age 92, Orlando was a part of the “Greatest Generation.” He was 20 years old when Pearl Harbor occurred. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corp in 1942; served on the Island of Attu, in Alaska; as a crew chief and tail gunner on the B-25 military airplane. In 1946, he met his future wife, Melba Dimas and they married in 1947. He was transferred to Germany and participated in the Berlin Airlift. They were in Munich and Berlin, Germany for four years. They were transferred several times more, including four years in Panama. He retired in 1964, returning to Albuquerque. His legacy is his military history, and he has seen his children and his children’s children, as God promised.
Orlando lost his parents at a very young age and was raised by his loving Grandmother Sofia Bazan Olona, with the help of his Uncles Manuel, Blas, and Antonio.
He is predeceased by his father Pablo Olona, & mother Lucia Padilla Olona; his brothers Paul and Ernest; and his three sons Timmy, Steve, and Tom.
He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Melba; and his children Jerry, Cathy, Michael, Arthur, Mark, Sophia, Nick, Paul, and Jeff (and spouses); and his sisters Alice Olona Torres, and Pauline Olona Hernandez. He is also survived by numerous grandchildren; great-grandchildren; nieces and nephews.
