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Walter Howard Orr was born on August 10, 1904, in Alexander, Illinois, his father, Ralph, was 34 and his mother, Eunice, was 27. He had one sister. He died on August 6, 1990, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, at the age of 85. In Rye his family lived at 9 Ridgeland Terrace. Walter enlisted and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.
Walter H. Orr
Rye Brook man found drowned in river
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.
Orr was born Aug. 10, 1904, in Cairo, I1L, to Ralph and Eunice Way Orr. A bachelor, he moved to Port Chester with hjs mother and sister in the 1930s. In 1938 he went to work as a clerk at the Rye Post Office, where he remained until his retirement in 1967. His tenure with the Postal Service was interrupted by World War II. Reserved in the Army Air Corps as a sergeant from 1942 until 1945 and was based at Drew Field in Tampa, Fla.
Seven years ago he moved to the Gladlutven Inn. ' Roche said he enjoyed writing short stories, which he published in a newsletter put out by the Greenwich (Conn.) Laurelton Nursing Home, where his sister is a resident He 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 churchs fapard of trustees.
He-is survived by his sister, Katharine Orr of Greenwich. Arrangements are being handled by the Craft Memorial Home in Port Chester.
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