Orr, Bangor manager in 1950s, dies at 92 Longtime administrator worked overseas

BANGOR – Friends and colleagues of Julian H. Orr on Tuesday remembered the former city manager as a respected leader who spread his knowledge across the country and around the world.

Orr, 92, died Tuesday at his home in Dirigo Pines Retirement Community in Orono.

“He was a fascinating man,” Bangor City Manager Edward Barrett said.

Barrett is dating Nancy Orr, one of Orr’s two daughters, and first met him when hired as city manager in the late 1980s.

“He was known as a range rider,” Barrett said. As a former city manager, Orr “was available for questions … to give advice.” Barrett described him as a mentor.

Orr, a U.S. Navy veteran who served during World War II, worked as Bangor’s city manager from 1950 to 1954, and left to be Portland city manager.

He believed that “local government is the keystone of our free society,” which is a quote of his inscribed at the entrance to the Maine Municipal Association offices in Augusta. He served as the MMA president in 1984-85.

“He was a highly respected leader in various levels of government and was very active in his professional and personal life,” said Bob Farrar, Bangor assistant city manager.

In addition to his work in Maine, he also worked in New York and Chicago, and overseas in Afghanistan, Thailand, Ethiopia, Nepal and Egypt.

When he returned to Maine to retire, he was selected to serve as a Stetson selectman in 1980, and later as first selectman for the community, a post he held until 1992.

“Julian Orr was a dedicated public administrator,” Gov. John Baldacci stated in a press release issued Tuesday. “He came back to the Bangor area … because he felt a close connection with the people of the Queen City.”

U.S. Rep. Tom Allen said in a prepared statement that he had known Orr since he was in high school when Orr served as Portland city manager and Allen’s father was a Portland city councilor.

“His son, Julian, and I were friends at Deering High School,” Allen said.

He added that the elder Orr “led an exemplary life of public service that made the communities where he worked better places for people to do business, raise their families and make a living.”

In addition to his active public life, Orr also had a very active private life that included plenty of tennis, hiking, camping, fishing, traveling, playing duplicate bridge, and listening to opera and other music. He especially loved Baxter State Park, Barrett said.

“We would go up there every summer to bike, hike, canoe,” he said.

As a younger man, Orr mapped the Center Ridge Trail on Traveler Mountain in Baxter State Park.

“The last time he did the trail, he was in his mid-80s,” Barrett said, adding jokingly: “I couldn’t do the trail. He was very active and remained active up until two years ago.”

Orr is survived by his three children, two grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and his standard poodle, Norman.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Dirigo Pines in Orono, arranged by Memorial Alternatives of Bangor.