Alverna (Ann) Orr

Alverna (Ann) Orr, age 94, passed away November 7, 2023. Ann was a loving wife, mother and a friend to many. She was predeceased by her beloved husband, Porter Orr, and son, Robert Affel. As a committed Christian, she was actively involved in the Presbyterian Church as a Sunday School teacher, Deacon and Women’s Ministry leader. Her joys were spending time with family and friends, nursing, cooking, entertaining and gardening. Ann gifted dozens of flowers each year from her and Porter’s garden. She was a charter member of Skyland Park Garden Club and a long-time member of the Tennessee Rose Society. The UT Medical Center’s Retired Nurses Group, the University of Tennessee Faculty Women’s Club and the Antique Society were among her favorite groups. She and Porter loved traveling on short trips to sightsee, visit family and buy shrubbery at nurseries near and far; they also loved traveling to the national parks, Europe and Alaska. Ann’s family were all native Floridians and were dismayed when she chose to attend the nursing school at East Tennessee Baptist Hospital where she graduated in 1952 and later worked. In 1968, she graduated from UT, Knoxville with a BS in Education. She was employed at St. Mary’s Hospital in several nursing leadership positions before she retired briefly in 1980. In the mid 1980s, she took a full-time position in nursing administration at the University of Tennessee Medical Center until she “really retired” in 1995. In addition to her husband and son, Ann was predeceased by her parents, Stella and Robert Andrews; brother, Robert Andrews, and sister, Elaine Burgess. Ann is survived by her daughter, Susan Affel, Knoxville, and her nephews: William Gwynn (Debbie), Gerald Gwynn (Joan) and Robert Burgess (Judy) all of Florida; as well as Porter’s son and daughter, John Orr (Sue), Knoxville, and Missy Harvey (David), Duluth, Georgia. If you wish to send a donation in Ann’s memory, please consider two gift funds she recently created at UT Medical Center. In memory of her son, she established the Robert Affel Alzheimer's Disease Patient Assistance Fund which provides resources for patients and families being cared for with dementia. The second fund is the Alverna (Ann) Orr Nursing Education Fund established to assist current UTMC team members seeking a BS in Nursing. If you would like to support either fund, please make your donation to: The University of Tennessee Medical Center. Be sure to indicate on the “for" line the name of the fund you are giving to and mail to UT Medical Center, Development Office, 2121 Medical Center Way, Suite 110, Knoxville, TN 37920. The family will receive friends 1 – 2 pm Saturday, November 11, 2023, with the Celebration of Life service following at 2 pm at Berry Lynnhurst Funeral Home, 2300 Adair Drive. Interment will follow the service at the Lynnhurst Cemetery. Condolences and offers of sympathy may be shared at www.berrylynnhurst.com.