Kenneth "Ken" Elliott Orr

Kennith Elliot Orr, Age 82 Died June 15th, 2024, in Gresham, Oregon.

He was born in Lake View, Iowa 12/16/1942. The family soon moved to St Helens, Oregon at age 3. Then they moved back to Iowa in 1945. There his siblings were born and they moved back to St Helens in1951. He left high school early and enlisted into the Army in 1959. Ken served in the Army for 5 ½ years as a construction equipment operator. Most all his time other than training was spent in Europe and Korea. He was overseas for 4 years of his time in the Army. He finished his tour of duty in Etain, France in October of 1965 with E5 SP ranking, known as Buck Sergeant.

After his tour in the Army, Ken moved to Lewiston Idaho and worked at the Potlatch Forest Inc mill. There he worked as a machine and truck operator. After a short stint in Lewiston, he joined the Navy in Oct 1967. There he became a Navy Seabee and served two tours in Vietnam. There he was a heavy equipment operator and worked on building air strips and roads. Ken finished his Navy tour in December 1969 with National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal and Vietnam Campaign Medals of honor.

After Ken returned home to Lewiston Idaho and worked driving truck. He started hauling produce and then timber products and steel. He worked in the area until 1976 where he went to work hauling new cars in Portland Oregon. He joined the Teamsters union and hauled vehicles for 26 years. In his last 6 years of operation, he became an owner operator. This allowed him to retire early at the age of 60.

Ken met the love of his life in 1987 with Johanna. They enjoyed spending a lot of time camping, golfing and traveling all around the country. They married in April 1991in Gresham Oregon. They enjoyed spending time with family, friends and many parties. They had many wonderful years of traveling and being with their friends and joyful gatherings throughout their retired years. Johanna got Ken to take dancing lessons. He was a trouper to endure her constant need to be on the dance floor. Ken enjoyed playing and watching golf as well. They were Elks and Moose Lodge members. Everywhere Ken went he made new friends, and no one was a stranger. Ken became a widower in September of 2024.

Ken is pre-deceased by his father Glenn Orr, mother Vera Cathrine Wainwright, brothers Ralph, Bill and Jerry, wife Johanna. He is survived by his sisters Annetta Heyer and Janet Esler; nieces Kathy Olson, Kris Stuber, Dawn Danielsen-Buxton, Kimberly Danielsen, Wendy Esler and Katie Orr. Nephews; Mike Justice, Kenny Orr and Eric Elser. Stepdaughter Sonja Kreiter and husband Kevin, her grandson’s Nick and Michael Gabriel, and 3 great granddaughters, stepson Marty Wiemann and wife Faith.

In Lieu of flowers, please make donations to Tunnels to Towers Foundation ( https://t2t.org/)