By Karen Andrew
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Mrs. Orr

MADISONVILLE - For 40 years, Mildred H. Orr and her family owned and operated one of Madisonville's oldest neighborhood businesses, the Hut Cafe on Whetsel Avenue.

Her son, Edwin "Todd" Orr of Kennedy Heights, said the restaurant had a motto, "Where good friends come to meet" and served "traditional soul food."

"They sold pigs' feet, fried pork chops, chili, ice cream. My grandmother and them were known for their chili," he said. "The building was an old police substation and still had the walled backyard where prisoners used to exercise."

In June, Mrs. Orr went to visit her youngest son, Louis Orr, of South Orange, N.J. Louis Orr is head coach of men's basketball at Seton Hall University, a Withrow High graduate and former Xavier University assistant coach.

Mrs. Orr became ill and stayed with her son. She died Sunday at St. Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey after suffering a heart attack. The Madisonville resident was 82.

She grew up in Madisonville and attended Hughes High School.

During World War II, she helped the war effort by working in the foundry at Wright Aeronautical, which is now General Electric in Evendale. She married her husband, Lindsay Matthew Orr of Talladega Ala., in 1941.

Her son said the family fondly remembers Mrs. Orr's sayings.

"She referred to her close friends and grandsons as 'critter' and she used to say when talking about someone, 'He's a mess and I'm not talking about a mess of greens,'" he recalled.

Mrs. Orr sold the Hut Cafe in 1996.

She was an active member of the Greater Liberty Baptist Church in Madisonville, was one of the original members of the Madisonville Community Council in the 1960s, and helped to get the deep water pool for Stewart Park.

Her husband died in 1977.

In addition to her two sons, survivors include a third son, Lindsay of Mount Healthy; nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be 6-7:30 p.m. Friday, with the funeral service following at the Greater Liberty Baptist Church, 6209 Desmond St., Madisonville. Burial will be Saturday in Laurel Cemetery on Roe Street, Madisonville, with the procession leaving at 10 a.m. from the Greater Liberty Baptist Church.

Memorials: American Heart Association, 2936 Vernon Place, Cincinnati 45219-2433.

E-mail kandrew@enquirer.com