Cecil Ford Orr, 89, Garden City, Missouri, died Saturday, November 23, 2013 at Meadowview of Harrisonville, Harrisonville, Missouri. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 27, 2013 at the Sycamore Grove Mennonite Church in Garden City with burial in Garden City Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 6:30-7:45 p.m. with Masonic services at 7:45 Tuesday at the Atkinson Funeral Home in Harrisonville. Memorial contributions may be made to Grace Hospice, 9233 Ward Parkway, Suite 201, Kansas City, MO 64114.

Cecil was born October 12, 1924 near Austin, Missouri, the son of Ford Lyle and Mabel Claire (Moon) Orr. He was a 1942 graduate and Valedictorian of Garden City High School where he excelled in basketball all four years. He also played for the local town teams for several years after high school. He married his high school sweetheart, Lucia Minerva Moore on July 7, 1946. Together they had two sons, Roger Earl and Stephen Ford.

After a short time of study at Central Missouri State Teacher's college, he returned to the family farm at the beginning of World War II with a farm deferment. He farmed for around 65 years until all the keys had to be taken away. He loved to farm and was still checking to make sure the beans were combined just last week. He was a well-rounded farmer and throughout his farming career raised beef, pork, mutton, commercial egg-laying hens, hatching eggs, and farmed soybeans, wheat, corn and milo row crops.

At an early age, Cecil put his trust in Jesus. Longtime Southern Baptist Sunday school teacher and deacon, Cecil was a member of Faith Baptist Church in Harrisonville. In later years, his church family was Sycamore Grove Mennonite Church in Garden City.

Cecil enjoyed meeting people and serving his community. He was a member and Worshipful Master of the Index Lodge #54 AF & AM in Garden City; had served on the school boards at Houston Country School and Sherwood Cass R-8, serving as President for several years; and was a member of the Farmers' Home Administration Board. He had a standing Saturday breakfast meeting at Old Cedar with "the guys," which included Sam King and Carl Abbott, and he enjoyed telling jokes with his friends.

Possibly known best as "Dad" and then "Grandpa," Cecil loved his family. From teaching how to shoot a free-throw to how to plant beans, teaching his nephews, John and Stuart, the importance of hard work, farming and driving a tractor, and teaching the importance of following Jesus, he passed on what he knew and believed to his family.

Cecil was preceded in death by his parents, son, Stephen Orr, sister, Dorothy Crust, brother, Carl and nieces, Barbara and Carolyn. He is survived by his wife, Lucia, of the home; one son, Roger Orr and wife, Janet, Garden City, Missouri; 3 grandchildren, Roger's children, Elisa and Nathaniel, Garden City, Missouri, and Stephen's daughter, Makenzie, Salt Lake City, Utah; brother-in-law, Elton Crust, Harrisonville, and many nieces and nephews.