Howard Kenneth Orr

August 11, 2018

Howard K. Orr, 95, passed away at the Ft. Collins Centre Ave. Health and Rehab Facility on August 11th after a late-life struggle with Parkinson’s disease. Howard was born in 1923 in Bellvue to Chester and Muriel Orr. He graduated from Cache La Poudre High School in 1941 and from CSU with a master’s degree in forestry in 1948. During his freshman year of college, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and flew C-46 transport planes carrying combat cargo over the Himalayas to China (the “Hump”) and troop carrier missions to Beijing. In October 1945, he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. Upon his return to the states, he married Florence Mahan of LaPorte. During his career in forestry, he was employed as a Research Hydrologist by the Great Basin Experimental Range Station in Ephraim, Utah, from 1948-1956, and by the Rocky Mountain Forest & Range Experiment Station in Rapid City, South Dakota from 1956 until his retirement in 1978. Howard and Florence moved back to Ft. Collins in 1991. They enjoyed traveling and camping, and they were snowbirds for many years at their second home in Zapata, TX, where they would meet up with their Colorado siblings. Howard enjoyed woodworking, lapidary and astronomy. He had a beautiful baritone voice and sang throughout his life for church choirs, the Black Hills Barbershop Chorus in Rapid City, SD, as well as the Harmonettes in Ft. Collins in his later years. He was preceded in death by his parents and 4 sisters. Howard is survived by his wife of 72 years, his daughter Andrea Yarger (Terry) of South Dakota, son Terry Orr of Ft. Collins, and daughter Becky Craig (Jim) of Wyoming, plus 6 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. Inurnment will be held at the Memorial Gardens at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Ft. Collins at a later date. Memorial donations can be made to Meals on Wheels. The family extends a special thank you to the caregivers at Centre Ave. Health & Rehab and Halcyon Hospice Care.