Robert D. Orr Cm M.D.

1941 - 2021

Robert D. Orr, MD, CM

Burlington - Dr. Orr, age 80, of Burlington, Vermont, passed away peacefully at the McClure-Miller Respite House on May 20, 2021, after a five-year battle with cancer. He was born, the youngest of four children, on March 16, 1941, to Nina (Bell) and Willard Orr in Mooers, NY. After graduating from Mooers High School, he attended Houghton College (Houghton, NY) graduating cum laude. While at Houghton he met Joyce Wirick and they married in her home church in Brighton, MI in 1962. They then moved to Montreal, PQ where he studied at McGill University Faculty of Medicine, earning the MD, CM in 1966. Bob joined the US Navy, where he did his internship (US Naval Hospital, Bethesda, MD) and family medicine residency (US Naval Hospital, Jacksonville, FL) before serving for two years as a general medical officer at the US Naval Hospital, Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, leaving the service as a Lieutenant Commander.

After his military service, he and Joyce and their three children moved to Brattleboro, VT where he practiced family medicine for 18 years. During those years he and Joyce were active in their community and their church. He served in many roles on the medical staff of Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, including establishing BMH's first ethics committee. He also helped establish the Brattleboro Area Hospice, serving as its first president and volunteer medical director. He was a long-time advocate for compassionate care of vulnerable individuals, including the unborn, people with disabilities, and those at the end of life. His interest in life and death issues led him to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship at the Maclean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago (1989-90).

After completing his postdoctoral studies, he served for 25 years in various professional roles including Professor of Medical Ethics and Director of Clinical Ethics at Loma Linda University Medical Center (CA); Professor of Family Medicine and Director of Clinical Ethics at the University of Vermont College of Medicine (VT); Professor of Bioethics at Trinity International University (IL); and Professor of Bioethics at Union University Graduate School (NY). He greatly enjoyed assisting patients and families as they worked through difficult choices and teaching ethics to students at all levels, and subsequently offering counsel as they pursued their chosen career pathways.

While following this professional pathway, Bob received numerous awards including Who's Who in American Universities & Colleges (Houghton); Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Medical Society (McGill); University Scholar (McGill); Vermont Family Doctor of the Year (1989); the American Medical Association's Isaac Hayes and John Bell Award for Leadership in Medical Ethics and Professionalism (1999); Who's Who in America; Scholar in Residence at the historic home of C.S. Lewis (Oxford, England, 2006); the Servant of Christ Award (Christian Medical and Dental Associations, 2009); and several teaching awards from various academic institutions. His legacy in medical ethics will be remembered through the Robert D. Orr Endowed Fellowship at the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity (Deerfield, IL), the Endowed Lectureship in Medical Ethics of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations (Bristol, TN), and the endowed annual Robert Orr Lecture in Medical Ethics at the University of Vermont Medical Center, but mostly through the ongoing work of his many students who have earned their own accolades in the field of medical ethics.

Bob was a member of numerous professional organizations, holding office in several, and served on the boards of several state and national not-for-profit organizations. He lectured widely throughout the US and in more than 20 foreign countries. He enjoyed writing. In addition to having authored, co-authored, or edited six books (including Medical Ethics and the Faith Factor, 2009), 15 book chapters, and scores of articles in professional journals and non-professional magazines, he entertained family and friends with periodic "News from Vermont" newsletters.

An authentic Christian, Bob served in leadership and teaching roles in many of the churches he and his family attended over the years. He was influenced by the writings of C.S. Lewis and identified as what Lewis termed a "mere Christian".

He enjoyed classical music, hammocks, reading, burgers & fries, Joyce's baking(!), British TV comedies, skiing, sunsets, Caribbean vacations, tapioca pudding, exploring the English countryside, traveling, and many, many other experiences that he and Joyce were fortunate to share.

Bob is survived by Joyce, his wife of 59 years; their children Shirley (Greenville, NC), Ron (West Dover, VT), and Robin and her partner Klaus (Colchester, VT); a sister, Helen (Orr Rawski) Hinderliter (New Wilmington, PA); sisters-in-law Beanie Perkins and Diane Wirick; and numerous nieces and nephews. They have no biological grandchildren but were delighted to have become "GrandBob" and "Grandma Joyce" to Catie, Noah, Lucy, and Charlotte Macauley, the children of cherished friends Dr. Bob and Pam Macauley (Portland, OR). He was predeceased by his parents, his sister Janet, his brother Bill, and their spouses.

Bob, Joyce, and their kids also consider as family Dale (deceased) and Paula Walker and their children Brenda, Fil, Jamie, and Peter. The families' lives became intertwined in 1964 when the Orrs adopted Shirley and Ron and the Walkers adopted Brenda and Jamie, Shirley, and Ron's siblings, following the death of the four young children's parents.

Bob will be remembered for his compassion, wisdom, quick wit, and sense of humor.

Bob's family would like to thank Drs. Steven Ades, James Wallace, Gene Moore, and Zail Berry along with the outstanding staff at the McClure-Miller Respite House for their expert and compassionate medical care.

In lieu of flowers, Bob asked that friends consider donations to either the McClure-Miller Respite House in Colchester, VT or the Robert Orr Memorial Fund at Community Lutheran Church in South Burlington, VT.

Services will be held at a later date when COVID restrictions allow family and friends to travel from out of state and from Canada.

Arrangements are in care of the Cremation Society of Chittenden County. To send online condolences to his family, please visit www.cremationsocietycc.com.