Orren Beaty Jr.

Orren Beaty, Jr., 85, journalist and governmental affairs consultant, died on January 19 from complications associated with Alzheimer's disease. He was born in Clayton, New Mexico and received a B. A. from New Mexico State University. He moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1947 and worked for eight years as a reporter, political writer and columist for the Arizona Republic. In 1955 he and his family moved to Washington, D. C. area to join Congressman Stewart Udall's congressional staff as his Administrative Assistant. His association with Udall continued at the Department of the Interior as Secretary Udall's principal assistant during the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations. Beaty received the Department's Distinguished Service Award in 1967. He was appointed by President Johnson in 1967 as the Federal Co-Chairman of the Four Corners Regional Commission to work with the governors of the four southwestern states. In 1970 he ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Representative in Arizona's Third Congressional District. Beaty retired in 1988 from Western Fuels Assoc., Inc. Survivors include his wife, Mary Turner Beaty, three children five grandchildren, and a sister, Mary Margaret Blanton.