A letterman who played on the "Wow Boys" Stanford team that upset Nebraska in the 1941 Rose Bowl, Charles Henry Orme Jr., '41, served for 42 years as the headmaster of the Orme School. He died on May 4 in Phoenix. He was 88.
After playing with the team that introduced the modern T-formation offense, the Zeta Psi member returned home to help his parents run a tiny elementary school on the family's 26,000-acre working ranch. In 1945 he became founding headmaster of Orme School, which he began building into a prominent college-preparatory boarding school. Following a 1952 story in Arizona Highways magazine, the Orme school and summer camps became favorites for children of Hollywood stars and national leaders, including Charles Lindbergh, Jimmy Stewart and Ronald Reagan.
In addition to serving as headmaster, Orme taught classes and coached football. (The school's colors were cardinal and white.) He retired in 1987 but remained active in the school. He was a leader in numerous educational organizations and wrote about education.
Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Mimi; two sons, Charles "Chip" III, '71, and Paul; and five grandchildren.
