Wyc Orr was a widely respected trial lawyer who earned honors from state and local bar groups for his expertise in handling criminal and civil cases.
He also was an outspoken Democrat as a legislator for two terms (1989-93) in the Georgia House and as a regular commentator on Gainesville radio and a writer of impassioned letters to the editor to newspapers in Georgia.
But he is best known for his tireless advocacy on behalf of the poor and the powerless.
“Wyc loved the law,” said Wyche Fowler, former U.S. senator from Georgia. “He thought the highest duty of a lawyer was to represent the indigent, or as recorded in the Bible, ‘the least of these, my brethren.’ ”
Gov. Nathan Deal said he and his wife Sandra “are deeply saddened by the passing of a longtime friend and respected Georgian. Wyc and I practiced law together in Gainesville, and both proudly represented northeast Georgia in the General Assembly. We offer our prayers and condolences to his family and friends.”
Eston Wycliffe “Wyc” (rhymes with like) Orr, 67, of Gainesville, died Wednesday at Atlanta Hospice, of pancreatic cancer. His funeral is 4 p.m. Monday at the First United Methodist Church of Gainesville. Little & Davenport Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
J.D. Smith of Gainesville, a retired Georgia Court of Appeals judge, called Orr Georgia’s greatest, most dedicated champion of indigent defense.
“What made Wyc stand out,” Smith continued, “was his utter fearlessness in insisting on effective representation for all those facing criminal charges in Georgia courts. He was willing to strive against entrenched apathy and powerful opposition. But he did it without making personal enemies. Even those who opposed him never had reason to doubt his sincerity or his commitment to make our laws work as they should.”
Smith also noted Orr “was the driving force in recent years in keeping the Gainesville-area Meals on Wheels program going despite deep budget cuts. It would not exist today without him.”
Last month Orr accepted a lifetime achievement award from the Southern Center for Human Rights. Its president, Stephen Bright of Atlanta, said, “Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke about the immense value of someone who speaks the truth – no matter how uncomfortable it may make the listener. Wyc was one of the rare people who did this throughout his life.”
Bright praised Orr for repeatedly pointing out the disgraceful denial of competent legal assistance for poor Georgians in criminal trials, for helping to write effective standards to rectify the situation and for fighting for better state funding for public defenders.
Atlanta attorney Emmet Bondurant, an ally for indigent defense, said Orr played a major role in the creation of Georgia’s first statewide public defender system a decade ago.
“Unfortunately,” he went on, “our intent to keep the system from political influence did not last. The Legislature took supervision of it from the Georgia Supreme Court and gave it to the governor’s office. The result was predictable: Wyc became the only person in a position of leadership in our public defender system who was willing to speak out publicly against budget cuts and demand that the state and the counties provide funding necessary to employ and train more public defenders.
“Now it’s up to others to take up Wyc’s torch,” he added.
Orr was born and reared in Tifton, earned his bachelor’s degree at Auburn University and finished first in his class at the University of Tennessee Law School. Its current dean, Douglas Blaze, said, “We are proud to call Wyc one of our own. He established a lecture series for our law school so that our students could receive the kind of inspiration that he experienced here.”
Orr’s son, Cliff Orr of Atlanta, said of his father, “For someone who had such professional success, Dad never took himself too seriously in social settings. He always had a wide smile, a booming voice and a willingness to laugh freely and clown around. For instance, he would strike his patented four-point ‘football stance’ in the middle of a crowded dance floor.
“Even when dressed in a starched white shirt,” his son continued, “Dad would get down on the floor and wrestle with his grandkids or frolic around the room with them in a dance they called ‘the Wyc.’ ”
Orr liked to take his family to scenic areas, historical sites and museums across America. His family often had to wait for him to finish “because he read every plaque on every display,” his son said.
Orr had total recall of whatever he read, his son said. “In our family he was known as ‘Wyc-ipedia.’”
He read mostly histories, philosophical works and biographies, especially those of legal giants such as Louis Brandeis and Clarence Darrow. “He struck a balance, though,” his son said, “because he followed Auburn football and major league baseball with similar passion.”
Survivors in addition to his son include his wife of 47 years, Lyn Harden Orr, their daughter and his law partner, Kristine Brown of Atlanta, and four grandchildren.
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