FARMINGTON — Farmington’s first police chief, Raymond B. Orr Sr., was remembered Friday as a good person who was always willing to help.

“Everybody says that, but he really did,” grandson, Jason Orr, said. “If you had a problem, he would help you find a solution.”

Orr, 88, of Farmington, died Tuesday at Franklin Memorial Hospital.

Whether through his 21-year law enforcement career, nine years serving as a selectman, five of those as board chairman, or his work with the Franklin County 4-H Beef Club, Orr was a fine gentleman, Dennis Pike, former county sheriff of Farmington, said.

Pike worked with Orr before the Police Department was formed and after he was appointed chief. Prior to 1967, town constables reported to the town manager, Pike said.

Although Police Chief Jack Peck never worked with Orr, who retired in 1980, Peck developed a relationship with him over the past couple of years.

“I enjoyed talking with him,” Peck said of Orr’s stories on how the department operated in his day.

“He was proud of his children, his wife, and truly cared for his family and his town as a police officer and selectman,” Peck said. “He had deep roots here and I was impressed by how much he did care about the town.”

Likewise, Town Manager Richard Davis only came to know Orr later.

“I didn’t know Ray as the police chief or as a selectman, but rather as a citizen. He would often visit me in my office to chat about town issues. I always enjoyed taking with him. It was obvious to me that he cared deeply about Farmington and wanted to see it improved,” Davis said.

When Orr started working as a constable in 1958, he was one of only two officers. They worked out of a small room in the community center. Orr formed the Farmington Police Department in 1967 and voters accepted it in 1968.

Orr designed space in the new Municipal Building for the department a couple years before retiring. He also designed the colorful patch for the department that is sewn on to police uniforms today, Pike said.

In the early years, constables refereed domestic squabbles, and dealt with town drunks and traffic violations, Orr previously said. There were also suicides and murders, shots fired at them, and eventually the advent of dope-related issues in Farmington. That is when Orr began to think about retirement, he said.

Growing up on a farm in Wilton, Orr told stories about working with cattle and hauling milk, Jason Orr said. He raised Herefords in his retirement years and showed them at fairs. He led the 4-H group for 25 years, he said.

Orr also enjoyed fly fishing, but most of all, his family was very important to him, he said.

abryant@sunmediagroup.net

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