Richard (Rick) Kenneth Orr passed away peacefully in Sonoma, California on July 24th, surrounded by friends and family.

He is preceded in death by his Mother Audrey Lanier Orr, Father Kenneth (Kenny) Orr and brother Ronald and his wife Maggie Orr.

He is survived by his brother Donald (Judi) Orr of Sonoma CA; Nephews: Sean (Barb) Orr of Mahomet IL, Bryan (Debbie Klein) Orr of Hanover Park IL; Niece: Jennifer Caramucci (Gary Wilbanks) of Novato, CA; and great nephews and nieces: Zachary and Matthew Orr, Kai Nelson-Orr, Julia and Sara Klein, McKenna and Garrett Caramucci.

Rick was born on December 17, 1942, at Lakeview Hospital in Danville, Illinois. At the age of five, his family moved to a farm south of St. Joseph, Illinois. Rick always said that living on the farm was the best time of his life. He went to two one-roomed country schools — Lipton (which still stands) and Clark. While on the farm, he raised Hampshire hogs for 4-H and looked forward to showing them at the Champaign County Fair. He graduated from St. Joseph Grade School and St. Joseph High School. While in high school, he participated in annual speech contests and plays, and in his senior year his class wrote the class play "Suspense on Sandy Key". He received a scholarship to attend Illinois State University to study special education, but after one year he decided that was not the field for him. Taking a year off to travel, he then enrolled at the University of Illinois as a theatre major — his true love. He was the first undergraduate student to be asked to direct a mainstage production in the Krannert Center. He received his BFA and Master's degree in Theatre and went on to study Leisure Studies and Speech Communication at the University of Illinois. Through graduate school, he was a teaching assistant and an instructor of Lifetime Fitness for the Physical Education Department. He was also a tutor for the Athletic Department. Paying for college himself, he worked many jobs. He made pizza at night at the Italian Patio. He worked in the produce departments at the St. Joseph and Gibson City IGA. He was a model for the U of I's and Purdue's Art Departments. He discovered his love of flowers while working at Fritz Flower Shop at Five Points in Urbana. While still in college, he also started working at Art Floral, where he continued to work for 22 years, increasing his floral design skills. He eventually left Art Floral and opened his own flower shop, Rick Orr Florist, in downtown Champaign where he worked for 27 years until he closed that shop and began his freelance design work from his studio at home.

As a floral designer, Rick became well-known throughout the State of Illinois. He was named Illinois State Floral Designer three times. He was the official florist for the Kemper PGA Golf Tournament in Lake Zurich, Illinois, in 1989. His dried floral arrangements were featured in the Ralph Lauren Store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. His designs appeared in the magazine "Flowers &", taking the First-Place Award twice. His dried wreaths were featured in "House Beautiful" magazine, and he began shipping wreaths nationally from his shop in Champaign. He served on design panels in Illinois, Ohio, and Texas, and was inducted into the American Institute of Floral Designers in 1987. He was a member of the University of Illinois Alumni Association as well as a member of the President's Council.

In 1971, Rick founded The Celebration Company at the Station Theatre in Urbana, taking an old, abandoned train station and converting it into a well-respected local theatre and serving as its Artistic Director for the next 50 years, directing more than 120 productions. The Celebration Company presented a wide variety of challenging, provocative and entertaining works and quickly became well known for producing some of the best theatre to be seen in central Illinois, receiving state-wide recognition and multiple awards. Rick's production of "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris" was so popular that it was repeated twice and invited to be presented at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. His production of "The Shadow Box" was entered in the American Community Theatre Association Festival where it won top honors at the state and regional levels and competed in the national competition in Kalamazoo, MI. Rick also served five terms on the Illinois Arts Council.

Rick also enjoyed gardening. His gardens on John Street and LaSell Drive were featured on local garden walks. His garden on John Street was featured in the book "Empowered Gardens" and in Midwest Living magazine. Rick often said that directing stage productions was like arranging flowers in a vase. Instead of working with Mother Nature, he worked with human beings to provide a well-balanced picture of height, color, texture, rhythm and motion. Rick was a master of both floral design and stage pictures.

Rick loved to travel. He spent many long Labor Day weekends in Puerto Rico and enjoyed Flamenco Beach on the nearby island of Culebra. A picture of a flower box he had planted on the side of his garage won him a national design contest with a first-place prize of an all expense-paid trip to Venice, Italy. He also traveled to the Netherlands to visit the flower markets there. He traveled to Denmark (his mother's heritage), Germany, Brussels, and Spain. In the winter, he would visit the Hawaiian Islands, staying with his good friend and guide Brian McCormack. Even though he could not swim and was somewhat afraid of the water, he managed to stand up on a surfboard and ride a wave at Waikiki at the age of 73 thanks to two private instructors of the Ohana Surf Project, Sean and Chelsea. He looked forward to his annual visits to the wine country of Sonoma, California to spend time with his brother Don and Don's wife Judi. His yearly travels to New York City brought many design elements from the NYC Gift Show back to his Champaign flower shop as well as many plays and musicals to be directed at the Station Theatre.

Throughout his many years of giving folks visual and theatrical pleasures, he was always grateful for the many friends he met along the way — especially his dear friends Jonathan Johnston, Trisha Locke, Carol Kamradt, Hector (his barber), Dr. Brasch, Dr. Paul, Dr. Ahn, Pete Samek, Gary Ambler, Barb Evans, Mike Trippiedi, Steven Keen, Kay Holley, and many other theatre friends.

“I did the best I could to give people joy” - Bette Midler

“So long - enjoy a good life” - Rick Orr

Visitation to be held from 4-7pm at Freese Funeral Home, 302 E.Grand, St. Joseph, IL on Tuesday August 4th, 2026.  There will also be viewing on Wednesday August 5th 10-11am with funeral  service beginning at 11am followed by graveside at Homer (G.A.R.) Cemetery, 600 E. Second St., Homer, Illinois.

Monetary tributes can be sent to: Allerton Park & Retreat Center C/O Rick Orr 515 Old Timber Road Monticello, IL 61856, or online:  https://allerton.illinois.edu/donate-to-allerton/