Dick Orr’s funeral
5 October 2000
Prayer Obit Near end of service.. anyone who’d like to say something about Dick or to his family, there will be an opportunity given.
The LORD [is] my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou [art] with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
In 1963, the local Masonic Lodge managed to purchase the original temple. It was a mess. As I remember, it had four walls, but they were the only things in decent shape. One of our favorite family photos is of my brother Keith lying on a pile of board where he’d fallen through the ceiling on Christmas Day. Keith was whining and hurting but Dad had him lay there until he could get a picture.
To pay for the entire repair would have been an impossible expense without the time donated by various Perry citizens.
One of the biggest blessings they received was when Dick offered to do the plumbing for nothing. He was a good plumber. The water’s still running. Dick was a private man who in recent years became enamored with gardening. A quick trip down by his house will tell you that the flowers are still growing. Another fairly recent passion in Dick’s life was his curiosity about his family’s genealogy. Dick spent hours researching his family roots after he’d first raised a family that would make any man proud. That family is still growing. We can do few things better in this life than to say that what we have begun, still continues. The water still runs, the flowers continue to bloom, and as evidenced here today, the family continues to flourish.
God wants us to do lasting things. He wants us to leave our mark upon His world in beautiful and positive ways. Dick Orr did this.
I don’t know whether he was a regular Little League coach or not but I can remember he gave me a valuable piece of advice once. I had one problem as a hitter. I was afraid of getting hit. The likes of fast pitchers like Ronnie Doane and Greg Liehr used to scare the heck out of me. Dick would watch the game from LeHigh’s back yard. One day after striking out while running very fast in the other direction, he called me over and said, “You know Brad, if you’d hit the ball once in a while, they’d be more careful when they pitched to you.” Even in a little ball player’s life, Dick made a lasting impact. The next year I quit Little League and learned to play the piano.
His nephew, Dwight Reese.
One of Dick’s many friends, his brother-in-law Toby Elledge.
Now.. an opportunity for anyone who’d like to say a word…
Prayer