David Edward Orkney

Lying in his hospice bed Friday night, 69-year-old David Orkney married Diane Smith. "And with this ring, I thee wed," he said. He held her hand as their marriage was made official after 25 years together. Two days later, David said "I love you, Blondie," and blew a kiss to his wife just before he died. "I know he loved me," Diane said. "And he showed me that every day of his life." David, or "Corky" as most people liked to call him, left behind a legacy as a family man, a businessman, a philanthropist, a jokester, a leader and a good listener, according to his family and friends. But everyone knew him as the former owner and longtime chief executive of G.I. Joe's, a "quirky" and "unique" sporting goods and auto parts retail store started by his dad in 1952. Orkney grew up with G.I. Joe's. As a kid, he and his sister, Janna, would march around a vacant lot behind their house in Portland playing "Explorer." Their backs were strapped with Army surplus knapsacks from G.I. Joe's as they hunted for exciting finds. When the two siblings wanted to cool off on hot summer days, they again relied on their dad's store for a makeshift kiddie pool: a yellow Army raft filled with water. Orkney eventually filled his dad's shoes as CEO in 1976, and served in the position for 16 years before stepping down. He stayed on as chairman of the board until 1998. G.I. Joe's eventually shut down in 2009. Norm Daniels, who took over the company in 1998, worked alongside Orkney for 44 years. In an interview Wednesday, Daniels said Orkney was a positive person to be around and a good boss. "He always treated people with respect," Daniels said. "It didn't make any difference who they were." Orkney had "great hair," Daniels said. He had the surfer look before the surfer look became the trend. When he was brainstorming and planning, he usually had a yellow notepad and blue pen in hand. Those were his signature items. And he loved racing. Which is perhaps why G.I. Joe's sponsored the Portland Grand Prix for 30 years and helped bring sports and open-wheeled car racing to Oregon. Mike Nealy, once part of the Global Events Group that organized the races, became friends with Orkney through the sponsorship. Orkney was eventually in his wedding. He said Orkney was a true leader, and his company was iconic for years. "The things that were done when G.I. Joe's was his business ... all of those things were part of the fabric of the community," Nealy said. Orkney's footprint reached beyond G.I. Joe's, though. He funded creation of a bronze, life-sized statue of the Portland Ballet's best dancer to be placed in front of the building, and he helped the Rosemont School for girls. Ed Ariniello, who worked with Orkney at G.I. Joe's, said he cared about everyone. And he was the most "attentive listener." "The legacy that he left is in the hearts and minds of his customers in the community and the people who worked for the organization that he helped build," Ariniello said. "He'll be missed and even more than the company he stood for." Orkney spent his last days cracking jokes to the hospice workers, his sister said. Nearly a dozen of his high school friends threw him one last birthday party, seeing as he might not make it to May 30. They wheeled his bed to the common area filled with balloons. And they bought him a cake that read "G.I. Joe's Forever" with a racetrack on the icing. "He rocked hospice," Janna said. "Let's just say that." Orkney is survived by his sister, Janna; his wife, Diane; a daughter, Shea Engesether-Lynn; two nephews, one niece and two granddaughters. -- Natasha Rausch