Virginia Pearl ("Jeanie") Orr

Virginia Pearl Orr

   “Jeanie”

Virginia Orr passed away peacefully on Wednesday, February 27, 2018 at the age of 83. Daughter of Joseph and Eula  Orr, and loving sister to Joseph Jr., Marian, and Juanita, all of whom precede her in death.

She was born and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida and graduated from Roosevelt High School.  She was one of thirteen students admitted as a member of the National Honor Society, which admitted African American students for the first time in 1951, the same year as her graduation.  She graduated from Florida A&M University in 1955 with a B.S. in Elementary Education and returned to West Palm Beach where she worked as a school teacher for three years. At the end of those three years, she moved to New York City to attend Columbia University Teachers College where she studied Guidance and Counseling in Higher Education, receiving her master’s degree in 1959.

After receiving her M.A., she moved to Atlanta, Georgia to work for Clark College as a Residence Hall Director.  After one year she moved to Washington, DC for a similar position at Howard University. During her time at Howard University she became an Educational Counselor and later the Director of the Educational Advisory Center, College of Liberal Arts.  In 1967, she joined the federal government workforce with the United States Peace Corps as a Personnel Management Specialist.  During her tenure at the Peace Corps she held various positions including Chief, Recruitment and Staffing Division; Supervisory Personnel Management Specialist; and Chief, Employee Relations Division until her retirement in 1989.

“Jeanie”, as she was known by her friends and family, loved to travel overseas with her Mother and siblings, with her first foray to France and Germany in the 1950s to visit her sister Juanita who was teaching at a school for children of military personnel. It is easier to name the countries and continents that she hadn’t yet visited versus those that she had. She was a true world traveler.  

Capitalizing on her love of travel, in retirement she practiced as a travel consultant and as a professional tax preparer – for many years she was the official family tax guru.  In addition to travel she enjoyed being a volunteer and financial contributor to causes that benefited humankind; she was extremely giving and firmly believed in giving back.  In that vein, she and her sister Juanita established the Orr Family Endowment Fund at Florida A & M University and in recognition she was honored to receive the 2013 Florida A&M National Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Virginia leaves to cherish her memory and carryout her legacy her nephew, Eric Orr (Julia) of Smyrna, GA; nieces, Pamela McKenzie (Clark);  Terrye Jenkins;  Kimberly Jenkins of Bowie, MD; Tracye Orr of Washington, DC;  great nieces,  Maya Cunningham  (Sheldon) of  Tacoma Park, MD ; Lauren McKenzie of  Bowie, MD; Michelle Orr Dorsey (Paulo) of  Silver Spring, MD;  great nephew, Joshua Orr of Smyrna, GA ; great great nephew Noah Dorsey  of Silver Spring, MD; special niece Lavdena Orr, M.D. of Washington, DC; and goddaughter Tamara Russell White of Tallahassee, FL.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Orr Family Endowment Fund at Florida A&M University, Inc., Post Office Box 6562, Tallahassee, Florida 32314-6562.  Online donations may be made to www.famu.edu/givetofamu with the following comment:  Please direct my donation to the Orr Family Endowment Fund.

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