Oren Michael Ladd, 71, passed away on Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Kennesaw, GA.

He was born on Feb. 8, 1954, in Fort Benning, GA, the youngest son of Connie Crowe. Oren had two half-brothers, Clayton (“Steve”) Olen Crowe, and John Crowe. He also had a nephew and two nieces through Steve and three nephews through John.

Oren’s father, also named Oren Ladd, had been a military man, serving in the Army in Korea and Vietnam. Oren remembered his father telling many stories from his military days. Oren, too, later joined the Army, serving in Colorado Springs, CO, training recruits from 1985 to 1988.

In addition to serving in the Army, Oren had various jobs, ranging from small appliance repairman and manager to security guard and facility handyman. He would say that he was a jack of all trades, master of none. For many years, he went by his middle name, Michael, but reverted to being called Oren when he hired three other repairmen named Mike and needed to make it easier to distinguish between all of them. He later worked for several years for his father-in-law, Mike Hein (another Michael), at his video production and event support company, Event Support Services. In this job, Oren once again was a jack of all trades and took care of various and sundry tasks, to include computer and technical support.

Oren married his second wife, Renee Collete Hein, in 1993. They were married for 32 years and together for 37 years. Thanks to his job working for her father, as well as her job working at Standard Press, Oren and Renee were able to purchase their home on a lovely piece of land in Kennesaw, GA. Oren and Renee shared a love of reading, owning cats and dogs, and playing online/video games. They used to play a game called Master of Orion, where players had to colonize worlds and then battle each other’s alien races. Renee remembers how Oren was more strategic and would always win, but it was still a fun competition. It was the kind of game that took several days to complete. Renee would play on her Mac, and Oren would play on his PC. They had a friendly secondary battle over which type of computer was superior.

In later years, Oren’s love of playing online games led to various virtual friendships. He had one friend in particular, Alf, who hails from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Alf always referred to Oren by his screenname, “Froggy,” and never met him in person, but was otherwise close to him.

Oren had several other hobbies, including collecting guns and coins. He had some of his dad’s old rifles, as well as pistols, and some of these were vintage guns that used black powder. Through his work as a repairman, he had acquired a 1929 Hunter ceiling fan that required special oil and maintenance. He was later able to fix it and install it in his Kennesaw home.

One of Renee’s sweetest memories of Oren was from just before they were married. They had been searching for a Men’s Warehouse on Hwy 41 in Marietta, where they planned to get Oren’s tuxedo. They kept driving up and down the highway but couldn’t find it. Although they never found the store, they also kept seeing an elderly couple driving along the road. This couple must have been searching for something as well. The old man could be seen shaking his finger at his wife as they drove around searching. Oren mused that that’s what he and Renee were going to be like someday when they were old. Although Oren passed away before they reached this “old age” together, Renee still looks back fondly on this memory.

Oren is survived by his wife, Renee, and his nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father, mother, and half-brother John. It is presumed that his other half-brother, Steve, has passed on as well.

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