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Orr, Walter H.

Walter H. Orr U.S. Army WWII
Walter H. Orr U.S. Army Air Corps WWII
 
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Date of Birth: 8/10/1904
Died On: 8/6/1990 Middletown, New York
Street Address: 9 Ridgeland Terrace
Service Number: 9318290
Branch of Service: U.S. Army Air Corps


Veteran Code: USARMY-479


BIOGRAPHY
 
Walter Howard Orr


Walter Howard Orr was born Aug. 10, 1904, in Cairo, IL, to Ralph and Eunice Way Orr. A bachelor, he moved to Port Chester with his mother and sister in the 1930s. In Rye his family lived at 9 Ridgeland Terrace.

In 1938 he went to work as a clerk at the Rye Post Office, where he remained until his retirement in 1967. Walter was a devoted worker and much loved by the people of Rye as shown by this Letter to the Editor.

His tenure with the Postal Service was interrupted by World War II. Reserved in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a sergeant from 1942 until 1945 and was based at Drew Field in Tampa, Fla.

In 1983, Walter moved to the Gladhaven Inn, a retirement home. He enjoyed writing short stories, which he published in a newsletter put out by the Greenwich (Conn.) Laurelton Nursing Home, where his sister was a resident. Walter was a member and past adjutant of American Legion Post 128 in Rye. He also was a longtime member of North Baptist Church in Port Chester and had served on the church's board of trustees.

Walter Howard Orr died on August 6, 1990, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, at the age of 85.

A trip to a jai alai match in Bridgeport, Conn., ended in the drowning death of an 85-year-old Rye Brook man Monday. The body of Walter H. Orr was found shortly before noon after a fisherman reported seeing it floating in the Pequonnock River, a tributary of Long Island Sound, Bridgeport police said. The Connecticut Medical Examiners Office said the death was accidental and was caused by asphyxia by submersion drowning.

Police Capt. Thomas Scanlon Said there was no sign of foul play. The exact circumstances I don't really know," Scanlon said. I don't think anybody does. However, interviews with police, the executor of Orrs estate and the operator of the senior citizens residence where Orr lived indicate that Orr probably was headed to an afternoon match at Bridgeport jai alai. Scanlon said Orr took a cab to the Port Chester Metro-North Commuter Railroad Station and then traveled to Bridgeport, where the train runs alongside the river.

Joan Sager, the . executor of Orr's estate, said he had been complaining of dizzy spells for the past few months Snd was being treated by a doctor. She speculated that he might have fallen into the river alter . suffering a dizzy spell or . heart attack. Bridgeport jai alai was an occasional destination for him and his friends, she said. Susan Roche, manager of Glad haven Inn, the home for the elderly in which Orr lived, said he liked to bet on the matches. Scanlon said Orrs wallet contained more than $200.

Walter was survived by his sister, Katharine Orr of Greenwich. Arrangements are being handled by the Craft Memorial Home in Port Chester.


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