Orange, Clifford Eugene
Clifford “Cliff” Eugene Orange, 68, went home to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to rejoin his parents on Saturday, August 24, 2024. Born to the late Charles Orange and Mattie Orange, Cliff had a 30-year career with Virginia Tech as University Architect.
Cliff was also an accomplished guitar player, and he and his father enjoyed traveling, playing and listening to bluegrass and gospel music at every opportunity. Cliff also played with the local group “Leroy and the New River Valley Boys” with his good friends Leroy Quesenberry, Dan Lambert, Glenn Price, and David Smith. The quintet entertained crowds regularly at the Price’s Fork Grange and other engagements.
Cliff was also a huge train enthusiast and was known to many as “the guy with a caboose in his back yard.” With his passion for railroad travel and historical preservation, Cliff bought and lovingly restored a decommissioned Norfolk & Western caboose and turned it into a private museum where he gave tours for members of the public, groups of school children and others who shared his love of railroad history. Donations from Cliff’s collection can be seen at the Montgomery Museum and a posthumous bequeathment to the Norfolk & Western Railway Historical Society to educate and engage generations to come.
Cliff is survived by several aunts, numerous cousins, and many close friends and neighbors who will always cherish the memories of his kindness, good nature, and steadfast faith in God.
A graveside service will be held at Roselawn Memorial Garden on Friday, August 30,2024 at 12 noon with the Reverend Ryan Rose officiating.
The family would like to thank the staff at Lewis Gale Montgomery and Johnston Willis Hospital Kidney Center for their kindness and care. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in remembrance of Cliff to the Norfolk & Western Railway Historical Society, 2101 Salem Avenue SW, Roanoke VA 24016, or the Montgomery Museum, 4 East Main Street, Christiansburg VA 24073.
John 16:22 “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy”
