On August 18, 1935, Steve Orso began life on a 160-acre dairy and crop farm near Bismarck, ND. He worked with his family until age 14 at which point he left to go to the Wyoming oilfield. In Casper, his mentors were Ralph Brown and ND Thomas, who shared their knowledge of all things drilling. They also guided Steve through “growing up.”
In his mid-20s, Steve had progressed as far as possible at R.L. Manning Company, small family firm, and moved on to Santa Fe Drilling International to go work overseas. His first assignment was in South Chile, at the very tip. There, he drilled a record “hole” in time and feet drilled that stood 30 years. After Chile, Steve continued to drill internationally in Libya, Nigeria (including before and after their civil war), North Sea, North Sumatra as well as Central Sumatra in Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Congo, Ecuador, South Australia, and worked to drill the first gas well in Israel.
A major achievement in his career was to serve as part of the team that assembled the first fully mechanized off-shore drilling rig that went to work for Exxon in the Bass Strait off South Australia. He went with the rig to begin the drilling program. Steve’s experience ranged from small land drilling rigs, deep drilling land rigs, wooden derricks, off-shore rigs, 3 heli-portable rigs which he converted from the manufacturer’s original equipment, and barge rigs.
In May 2008, Steve resigned from Nabors Drilling International and began to work as a consultant. He was asked to provide expertise and personnel to a company in Guatemala and so formed Drilling Operators, Inc. For several years, consulting work kept him busy and travelling. In 1977, Steve finally retired, for the last time, and his last labor was on his ranch outside of Devine, Texas.
Steve leaves his wife of 35 years, Olga; daughters, Wanda and Saunda; nieces, June and Cindy McPherson; nephew, Steve (Deborah), the children of brother Jim (Betty), deceased. Also, nephews Jerry (Pat) and Dwight (Charlene) Lennick, sons of sister Agnes, deceased. Remaining are a host of relatives and friends as well.
Of historical interest is that Steve’s father came to the U.S.A. as a boy from Hungary. He settled in North Dakota and sent to Germany for a wife. The chosen woman fell ill and so her sister Ida Bagner (Bagnutzke) came to marry Steve after a 2-year journey. Their marriage was a happy one and produced six children: Paul, Edith, Gertrude, Agnes, Jim and Steve. Their farm products were milk, crops, a large vegetable garden to provide the extended family with canned goods, incidental rabbit furs and maybe eggs. By all accounts, Ida was a very hard-working woman and mother. At some point, likely due to age, Steve and Ida gave the farm over to Paul, the oldest son in the old European tradition. Sons, Jim and Steve, stayed on the farm and continued to work until Steve turned 14 years of age. That is when he and Jim departed and went out on their own to make their way in the world. So, we know now how that turned out!
A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, April 28, 2018 at 12 noon at Tondre-Guinn Funeral Home. Arrangements by Tondre-Guinn Funeral Home. Castroville, TX.