Larry Orr passed away September 4, 2023, surrounded by his family in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was a husband, father, uncle, and grandfather. He fostered his family with a love of perseverance and kindness.
Larry was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to his parents Forrest and Ione Orr. He was the youngest of three children. He joined the Army after high school, serving from 1969 to 1972 at Fort Hood, Texas where he played brass in the Army Band. After studying architecture at the University of Minnesota, Larry dedicated his work and time to the Vinland National Center where he pioneered cross country sit skiing for people with spinal cord injuries. He then moved to Utah in 1981.
During his time in Utah Larry worked as a rehabilitation specialist at the Utah Independent Living Center and as a recreational opportunity consultant for the University of Utah. Through a collaboration with the Paul Hill Adaptive Sports program, Larry continued to champion sports for people with disabilities. A peer mentor to many, Larry taught others that there was life after a spinal cord injury. After graduating from Salt Lake Community College, he started his graphic design career for University of Utah Hospital in 1991. For nearly 20 years, Larry’s meticulous and creative efforts contributed to significant projects at the Rehabilitation Center and School of Medicine.
Larry enjoyed artistic expression and created pieces of art in paint, sculpture, pencil, model, graphic design, photography, and many other forms. He loved to push the limits of his achievements. In his free time, he enjoyed cross country and downhill skiing, hand cycling, basketball, tennis, kayaking and camping.
Larry is preceded in death by his parents and sisters Bette and Jolene. He is survived by his wife Marianne, his three children Johnson Orr, Samuel Orr, and CJ Patterson (Bill), his grandchildren Evelyn and Wesley and his nieces and nephews Todd Schoeben, Teresa Fahey, Tammy Schelitzche, and Christopher Orr.
Services will be held at 12:30 PM on Saturday, September 23 at the Hyland Lake Ward Chapel, 981 E. Revere Circle, Murray, UT 84117. A visitation will be held prior to the services from 11:00-12:00 PM. Interment will be at the Payson City Cemetery, 400 N. 800 E., Payson, UT 84651. Funeral services will be streamed live on Zoom. Please click the link on the livestream service below to join.
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Mark Cameron Anderson
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Orlando Toro Garcia
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2000
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Aug 3, 2003
A little four wheeling in the hills of Utah
Jesus, take care of this great Soul, he deserves first class treatment. See you on the other side Larry.
I will always cherish the years and memories we had together. My heart goes out to Larry’s family as you mourn this loss. A truly great man.
Never forgotten.
I will always cherish the years and memories we had together. My heart goes out to Larry’s family as you mourn this loss. A truly great man.
Never forgotten.
So sorry to hear of Larry's passing. I have such good memories of his creativity and good times spent with me and Gil Dickensen as our family celebrated birthdays and events. He did not let his physical challenges slow him down from a very full life.My thoughts are with C.J. and his family.
Prayers to the Orr family. Sorry to hear of his passing
Class mate of ‘69
Rochelle (Haugen) Meyer
Prayers to the Orr family. Sorry to hear of his passing
Class mate of ‘69
Rochelle (Haugen) Meyer
Sympathy to my classmate Larry's family. So sorry to hear of his passing. God Bless.
Thank you for 60 glorious & cherished years of friendship my dear friend. You have always been like a brother to me & I will always remember the many memories of all the times we shared together. I credit you & your family for all the successes in my life by making me a better, more positive person. You taught me to be more confident & to believe in myself & others. I admire you for all the adversity, challenges & obstacles you overcame throughout your life, the most positive person I have ever known, never afraid to try anything, no matter how difficult. Your purpose in life has been to help & give hope to others, being a shining light that will shine on forever.
I love you, my family loves you - we will never forget you.
Thank you for 60 glorious & cherished years of friendship my dear friend. You have always been like a brother to me & I will always remember the many memories of all the times we shared together. I credit you & your family for all the successes in my life by making me a better, more positive person. You taught me to be more confident & to believe in myself & others. I admire you for all the adversity, challenges & obstacles you overcame throughout your life, the most positive person I have ever known, never afraid to try anything, no matter how difficult. Your purpose in life has been to help & give hope to others, being a shining light that will shine on forever.
I love you, my family loves you - we will never forget you.
I am so grateful that Larry has been a part of my path in life. I cherish the memories I have playing tennis (Larry made me a better player!), and kayaking with TRAILS. Larry, thank you for being you! You've enriched my life and the lives of so many others.
I am so grateful that Larry has been a part of my path in life. I cherish the memories I have playing tennis (Larry made me a better player!), and kayaking with TRAILS. Larry, thank you for being you! You've enriched my life and the lives of so many others.
I thank and remember Larry for his dedication to enriching the lives of children and adults challenged with disabilities...he was a friend to all and the spina bifida community was blessed with his presence
Condolences and prayers of comfort and peace to Johnson and the Orr family!
Larry was a treasure and good friend. He was a joy on the tennis court and played with desire and passion for the game. He will remain in our hearts.
Larry will be missed he was a great man, I knew Larry for over 40 years, over the years I played basketball, tennis & even had a few drinks together. I will never forget our time together.
Larry will be missed he was a great man, I knew Larry for 40 years.
Thanks for the decades of your friendship Larry. I will always remember when I first met you at the hospital just after my injury. Just watching the way you maneuvered your wheelchair and hearing the stories you had to share. I thought to myself, if I’m gonna be spending my life in a wheelchair, I wannabe just like him! Well thank you my friend, you got me involved in sports, camp outs, as well introducing me to my 20 year employment at the Utah Independent Living Center as the Recreational director. You’ve done well my friend! I will always be proud to call you a friend. Until we meet again🙏