Tyler Christian Orscheln

Tyler Christian Orscheln was born, November 20, 1987 in Moberly, Missouri. On the morning of Wednesday, November 23, 2022, our beloved Tyler died in Columbia, Missouri.  He had just turned 35 and was looking forward to a belated birthday celebration with family and to eating copious amounts of food on Thanksgiving.  Our sad reality is that Tyler lost his battle with depression and addiction after accidently overdosing on heroin.  We are sharing the truth of how Tyler’s life was tragically cut short in hopes that it helps others, even one other person, to honor him and to pay homage to some of his best qualities: selflessness, generosity and a willingness to help others no matter the cost to himself.    

This disease knows no bounds.  Tyler had a supportive family, attended St. Brendan’s Catholic School and graduated from Mexico High School.  It was during his teenage years that Tyler first began experimenting with drugs and shortly afterwards he commenced his cyclical struggle to recover.  Tyler often commented that he didn’t know what he wanted to be when he grew up, and just as he wasn’t alone in feeling lost, we know we aren’t alone in our pain and grief.    

Our sweet Tyler was more than just the sum of his vices.  He was a fire spinner, a Taco Bell employee, an avid concert goer and an enthusiastic musician including bongos, guitar, and banjo.  He was funny and always enjoyed a good laugh.  If you knew Tyler, ‘laid back’ probably comes to mind—you couldn’t rattle his cage with a stick, though you might get a hushed, “Whoa…”, and see a set of raised eyebrows.  He always ordered the same meal as someone else at the table.  He was spontaneous, loving, kind and took a part of our hearts with him when he died.  To say Tyler will be dearly missed is an understatement.  He loved and was loved deeply by his friends and family.   While we will always think of Tyler on holidays and his birthday, he will be in our thoughts when gathered around the flame of a campfire, when we hear house music, when we have food envy over what someone else has ordered, and in so many other moments of our daily lives.

He is survived by: his parents, mother, Lori (Leavene) Cooper (Tony) of Moberly, MO, and father, John Orscheln (Brooke Burnham) of Columbia, MO; his siblings, Allen DeJonge of Houston, TX, Jennifer (DeJonge) Lively of St. Louis, MO, Taegan (Orscheln) Shearer of Evans, GA, Jordan (Orscheln) Swartz of Lima, Peru, Cameron Orscheln of Columbia, MO, Caitlyn (Orscheln) Roth of St. Genevieve, MO, Abigail Orscheln of St. Louis, MO, Cheryl Orscheln of Waynesville, NC; step-siblings April (Cooper) Mitchell of Palmyra, MO, and Faith Cooper of Louisiana, MO; his grandmothers, Norma “Nannan” Leavene, and Judy Orscheln, both of Moberly, MO; as well as, an extensive (and impressive) collection of brothers-in-law, a sister-in-law, nieces and nephews, and extended family distributed worldwide—in true Orscheln fashion. 

As we desperately search for meaning and struggle to process this tragic loss to our family, we hope sharing his story will help others.  Know that you are not alone and there are so many resources out there.  Never give up, not on yourself nor others.  If you are so inclined, contributions through his brother Cameron’s non-profit at https://www.cfi-mo.org/product/donation/ will be donated to the Phoenix House Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Center in Tyler’s memory.

A visitation/celebration of Tyler’s life was held in the Cater Funeral Home Chapel.