L. Marlene Orr, 100

Lela Marlene Barrick Orr, 100, was born Jan. 8, 1924, to Troy R. and Edna Pearl Barrick in Butler, Oklahoma. She grew up in the Arapaho, Oklahoma area, attended school and graduated from Arapaho High School in 1942. She married Howard Arthur Orr on May 30, 1942, and they were married 54 years when he died in 1996.

The family lived in Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. Marlene was a housewife, raising four kids, while her husband worked for Shell Oil Company as a seismologist. In 1956, they moved to Montana’s Flathead Lake on the East Shore at Yellow Bay and Bigfork to raise cherries. In 1971, they moved to Hot Springs, and in 1983, Plains.

Marlene worked as a nurse’s aide for seventeen and a half years after raising her children. Upon retiring she and her husband went to Oklahoma for two years to care for her aging mother. They returned to Montana in 1988 to live in Dillon where they were volunteer caretakers for the Clark Canyon Bible Camp until 1996 when her husband passed away. She then moved to Sheridan, Wyoming to be near family until her death.

She was preceded in death by her husband, four grandchildren, mother, father, and all six of her siblings. 

She is survived by her seven children: Aurolyn Ann Frazier of Goose Creek, South Carolina; Kelly Kent Orr (Kathy) of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Dawn Cheryl Uribe (Marty) of Santa Clarita, California; Arthur James Orr (Doris) of Sheridan, Wyoming; Joe Barrick Orr (Ronda) of Mandan, North Dakota; Marsha Marlene McElrath (Timothy) of Milton-Freewater, Oregon; David Timothy Orr (Barbara) of Trout Creek. She is also survived by nineteen grandchildren and thirty-four great grandchildren.

Marlene made a life changing decision to accept Jesus Christ as her Savior and Lord when she was a young adult. She served him in the church as a Sunday school teacher and had weekly home bible clubs with children for many years. She strived to live for God, not being perfect but desiring God to change her life and to glorify Him.

Marlene was a loving mother and grandmother who enjoyed time with her family but was also an accomplished gardener who enjoyed growing flowers, a master seamstress and a quilter who enjoyed making clothes and quilts, and a student of the Bible, politics, and everyday life. She was never afraid to express her opinion on a subject she studied. She was a hard, independent worker who enjoyed working and being outside. She lived life to the fullest.

A celebration of life will begin at 10:30 a.m., on Thursday, Sep. 5, at Ignite Wesleyan Church, 404 W. Brundage Lane in Sheridan. Later this fall a burial service will be at Murray Memorial Cemetery, Lone Pine, Montana where she will be buried alongside her husband.

Online condolences may be made to www.sheridanfuneral.com. Arrangements are under the care of Sheridan Funeral Home.