JoAnn Burke Orr Adventure at Every Turn for this 98-Year-Old

By Estelle Rodis-Brown

JoAnn Orr recently turned 98 and she’s eager, as always, for her next adventure.

“Joey” Burke was born on March 27, 1925, to Josephine Lyon Burke and Cleveland politician Thomas A. Burke, who went on to become the 48th mayor of Cleveland, served four terms, then was a U.S. Senator. Cleveland’s Burke Lakefront Airport is named after JoAnn’s influential father, so she was, by default, a local celebrity who couldn’t even go on a date without newspaper cameras capturing and broadcasting the moment.

In fact, January 1, 1946 is memorialized with a photo in The Plain Dealer from the night young Stanley L. Orr, Jr. proposed to JoAnn Burke at the Continental Restaurant after attending a performance of “Oklahoma” at the Hanna Theatre. The couple had known each other since middle school when they were enrolled in the same dancing classes.

The Plain Dealer also showed up to snap a picture of JoAnn and her firstborn, Barb, just hours after delivery. It was published on the front page of the June 20, 1948 issue of the newspaper. Even family portraits were often organized and taken by the Plain Dealer. Over time, after JoAnn’s father returned to private law practice and she and Stan started raising their four children, they faded from the public spotlight. But the Orrs enjoyed plenty of adventure on their own terms. JoAnn, who now lives with her daughter, Barb Chema, in a lovely Russet Woods condo, says her husband of 68 years was a “man of action” until his passing in 2015 at the age of 90.

An Eagle Scout and avid outdoorsman, Stan had embarked on 35 Army Air Corps missions while serving in World War II. His love of adventure took him and his family on far-flung travels. He loved being on the water and owned five different boats as Barb, Althea, Tom and Chip (Stanley Orr III ) were growing up and enjoying a second home base at Cedar Point Marina’s boat dock.

Barb says, “Each boat was larger than the last, and all were named 6 OARS, because our name was Orr and there were six of us. We spent our weekends on boats, water skiing and camping.”

In 1977, Stan retired early after working 30 years for U.S. Steel…not to put up his feet or rest on his laurels, but to take his wife on a three-year, 28,000-mile adventure on intercoastal waters from Canada to the Caribbean.

Setting aside her own plans and preferences, JoAnn agreed to her husband’s fantasy of living aboard a big boat. So, while in their early 50s, the couple sold most of their worldly possessions and embarked on a sometimes perilous journey as “liveaboards” on Steelaway, a 42-foot Grand Banks Trawler.

JoAnn’s lively memoir, “Sea Fantasy” (published in 2013 and available on Amazon) recounts their adventures sailing around the East Coast of the U.S. and the Bahamas before the advent of personal computers, cell phones, email, WI-FI, Garmin, Google Maps or other modern conveniences.

JoAnn dedicates her book “To my Captain Stan, who led me into an adventurous life, often kicking and screaming. It was enriching, and I thank you! Wither thou goest, I will go.”

When asked about her agreeableness to her husband’s high-adventure plans for them both, JoAnn says, “It was fun… but not always. I guess I was a good sport.”

Indeed! Aside from becoming First Mate to her Captain and learning how to operate the large vessel, JoAnn baked homemade bread and maintained their floating home every day. Then there were mechanical breakdowns, rough weather (including a memorable hurricane), and life-threatening “visits from curious drunks and nefarious bandits” who needed to be scared off by Stan’s sharpshooting target demonstrations.

After recounting the less-pleasant aspects of living on the water, JoAnn cheerfully admits, “I’m a worrier. I don’t like being on the water. But it was Stan’s dream to do this. I loved him very much.”

And that pretty well sums up JoAnn’s ability to gracefully go with the flow, wherever that flow has carried her.

In fact, while Stan eventually “grew tired of it and sold the boat,” the Orrs hadn’t settled back home in Chagrin Falls for long before her restless husband bought them a new RV so they could travel to every state in the Union, every province in Canada, every state but one in Mexico, plus Alaska, Newfoundland and Labrador.

“We were very compatible, we enjoyed the same activities, and we loved each other so much,” JoAnn says. “It was a pretty fair deal for 68 years.”

Now, although she misses Stan terribly, JoAnn is making the most of her new life with Barb at Walden. Barb had moved to Walden previously to downsize after living in a big Van Sweringen home in Shaker Heights. “Mom and I decided to join forces here,” she says.

Jo Ann adds, “It’s beautiful here and we enjoy meeting with our friends in the neighborhood. I practically live out on Barb’s porch, where I feed the birds and greet friends from the Condo Association who stop by. And, of course, we have family nearby. I’m very happy. It’s so pretty and peaceful here… and the men are very handsome!,” JoAnn adds, with a wink and a smile.

JoAnn celebrated her 98th birthday at Walden with her daughter, granddaughter and two of her great-grandchildren. True to form, she approached the day with grateful, loving anticipation and now looks forward to the new adventures each day may bring.