Ralph Orr 1903-1951

ORR, BACKTOLD

Posted By: Sharon Elijah (email)
Date: 12/24/2021 at 06:59:14

8 February 1951 - Monticello Express

Three persons were killed Sunday night when two cars collided on state highway 136 one-half mile south of Dyersville.

Eight persons, including three children, were injured, one seriously.

The dead were Gilbert H. Clausen, 39, and his wife, Ann, both of Goose Lake, and Ralph Orr, 47, of route 2, Onslow. All were passengers in a car that apparently crashed into the concrete wing of a culvert abutment, careened across the highway and bounced off the abutment into the path of an oncoming car driven by Edgar (Ted) Wolf, 24, of Worthington.

Orr's wife, Helen, 42, was seriously injured. She is at Mercy hospital, Dubuque.

Mr. and Mrs. Orr and the Clausen's had stopped in Monticello for a late dinner before proceeding towards Dyersville.

Services for Ralph Orr will be held at 2 o'clock Friday afternoon at the Presbyterian church in Onslow. The body will lie in state there from 10 a.m. Friday morning until the services.

Rev. C. E. Burdine will officiate at the services. Burial will be in the Frozen Hill cemetery.

Ralph Orr was born Feb. 18, 1903 at Onslow, the son of J. W. Orr and Ella Lee Orr. He attended the Onslow schools, and later moved to California where he operated a garage at Redding.

In 1936 he was married to Mrs. Helen Backtold and they have since made their home on a farm north of Onslow.

He was a member of the Presbyterian church in Onslow, Fraternity Lodge A.F. & A.M. of Onslow; the Iowa Consistory of Cedar Rapids, and the El Kahir Shrine of Cedar Rapids.