Had A 50-Year Career Teaching Aviation In Spartanburg, SC

Lee Orr, who with her husband Bill Orr owned Orr Aviation in Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport in South Carolina as well as Shelby Aviation in North Carolina, passed away January 11. She was 87 years old.

Orr began handling secretarial duties at the business in the 1950s, but she soon asserted her desire to learn to fly, and that's exactly what she did.

Lee Orr was inducted into the South Carolina Aviation Hall of Fame in 2001. According to her plaque at the Hall, she was a founder of the Blue Ridge Chapter of the Ninety-Nines and a member of the Arkansas Chapter of the Ninety-Nines. She participated in air races including the All Women’s Transcontinental Air Race, the Air Race Classics, and the Powder Puff Derby.

Among the many awards and recognitions conveyed upon Orr were the Evelyn Bryan Johnson Award, recognizing career contributions in aviation, in 2006, and was the 1988 Amelia Earhart scholarship.

Orr was one of the founding members of the Spartanburg Pilots Association.

Madeline Kennedy, Orr’s friend and fellow Ninety-Nines member, said Orr was a tireless advocate for women in aviation. Kennedy said one of Orr's regular quips was "A woman's place is at the airport."

Orr's husband Bill preceded her in death in 2014.

(Image from the South Carolina Aviation Association)

FMI: Source report