William E. ORR

ORR, LYONS, LYON, ERICKSON, STRUTHERS, STEWARD, STEARNS

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 10/29/2006 at 20:28:06

William E. (Bill) Orr, 80, of 100 Village View Circle, Williamsburg, Iowa died on May 14th (2006) at University Hospitals from lung disease. Bill was born January 23, 1926 in rural Wright County, near Woolstock, Iowa to Miles and Elizabeth (Lyons) Orr, the fourth of seven children. He was a 1944 graduate of Ware High School where he excelled at basketball, often scoring most of his team’s points. The University of Iowa offered him a basketball scholarship, but as with most of the men of his generation, he went to serve in World War II. Bill served with distinction in the South Pacific earning two bronze stars and a purple heart. Bill returned from the war in 1946 and started working at the Quaker Oats grain elevator in Ware, IA. In 1948 he was given his own elevator to manage in Alexander, Iowa, being one of the youngest managers in the organization. On July 11, 1948 he married Fern Elizabeth Lyon of Ayrshire, Iowa, forming a strong partnership that lasted just shy of 58 years. Bill and Fern had one son, Chuck, born in 1950. Bill managed elevators for Quaker Oats and then for Cargill in Alexander, Williams, Fonda, Stanhope, and Bouton, IA, and in Fullerton, Nebraska. He was active in these communities and was at one time or another a member of the school board, the volunteer fire department, various church committees, the Lions Club, and the Masons. Bill retired in 1988 and spent 14 years happily playing golf most every day during the season. Bill loved his family and was grateful that he survived to meet a new great granddaughter born on April 5, 2006. Bill is survived by his wife Fern of Williamsburg; his son Chuck and his wife Sally (Erickson) of Coralville; his granddaughter Jennifer (Orr) Struthers and her husband Robert of St. Louis, MO.; and his great granddaughter Maddy Struthers. He is also survived by three brothers and a sister – Robert Orr and his wife Mary Ann of Laurens, IA.; Dale Orr of Madison, Illinois, Lauren Orr of Emmetsburg, IA; and Marjorie (Orr) Steward and her husband Roger of Clear Lake, IA. Also surviving Bill were several nieces and nephews and a large number of friends. Bill was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Richard; a sister Mildred (Orr) Stearns; and a nephew Donald Stearns. Funeral Services are set for 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 18, at the Uhlmann-Powell Funeral Home in Williamsburg with Pastor James Parks officiating. Burial, with Military Honors, is in the Oak Hill Cemetery. Visitation is from 5:00 – 7:00 pm on Wednesday at the Uhlmann – Powell Funeral Home. Memorial donations can be made to the Williamsburg St. Paul’s United Methodist Church Building Fund or the University of Iowa Foundation for the benefit of the Roland W. Holden Family Program for Experimental Cancer Therapeutics.

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