Local Artist, Carolyn (Grabhorn) Orr, age 84, passed peacefully on June, 19 2011. She was born in 1926 in Indianapolis.
She graduated from New Palestine High School in 1944 and married R.B. Orr of Greenfield in 1946. After traveling with her husband in the Air Force from 1957-1975, they returned to Greenfield to live in the rammed earth home they built in 1948. R.B. died in 1985. Carolyn was a member of the Busy Bees Home Economics Club and the Mount Comfort United Methodist Church.
Best known for her portraits in oil, Carolyn Orr studied art in France and the US, was a member of the Hoosier Salon of Artists and Pinacoteque des Artist in Paris. Her miniature book on scrimshaw is in its third printing and was shown on the front page of the Wall Street Journal in 2006.
She is survived by her son, Steven Ray Orr (daughters, Cailin Huyck Orr and Joanna Orr Elsas); daughters, Cynthia Anne Orr (children, Ellen Bowsher Colby and Richard Bowsher), and Stephanie Lockerbie Gillette (children, Bridge Thomas Randall and Summer Knight Lockerbie); sister, Judith Meyer; and brother, Gordon Grabhorn. Carolyn also had 6 great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 4:00 until 8:00 p.m. on Monday, June 27, 2011 at Erlewein Mortuary in Greenfield. Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 at Mt. Comfort United Methodist Church. Pastor Reid Walker will be officiating. Burial will follow at Park Cemetery in Greenfield.
Friends may sign the online guestbook at www.erleweinmortuary.com or email condolences to [email protected].
