Bob Orr a Lincoln, telephone company institution

Longtime resident and Lincoln Telephone Company President Bob Orr has lived in Lincoln for the better part of 75 years.

"I came with my folks. I was only five years old," said Orr, who moved to Lincoln in 1942.

An article from Gold Pans and Singletrees shares that Orr's parents also served as caretakers for the 7-Up Ranch properties.

"My dad was at that time logging," said Orr.

After attending grade school in Lincoln, Orr started high school in Simms, as Lincoln didn't have a high school at the time. Orr went to Great Falls for his senior year of high school and graduated from there.

"I went to work for the Forest Service for one year" after high school said Orr.

Orr's wife, Myrna, noted that Orr was a "rowdy" for the Forest Service, serving as a cook.

"He's got his snowshoes up on the wall," she said. He used to snowshoe over Stemple Pass every day for work.

An avid hunter and ice fisherman. "He killed an elk and deer every year for his family," she added.

After that first year in the Forest Service, Orr joined the Helena-Lincoln Telephone Company, now just called the Lincoln Telephone Company, in 1957. Orr became manager and stayed with the telephone company until his retirement around 2004. He continues to serve as the President of the Board.

The Helena-Lincoln Telephone Company was established in 1921, and at that time, a system of long and short rings were used. By 1953, a new dial system was installed, but residents were still on party lines. With party lines, multiple users shared a local loop circuit, allowing more residents to have telephone service with less wire. However, this meant anyone connected on the party line could listen in on a phone call.

"There was nothing but ten party lines when I got here," said Orr. "We put in all private lines instead of ten party lines," he added, referencing the changes seen over his career at the telephone company. Another change is the switch to fiber optic, which he said started about four years ago.

Orr, who had been married before, said he and Myrna married in 2004. "She used to be my next door neighbor when I had a place up on Spieling (Gulch)," he said. Myrna added that he always used to keep her driveway plowed in the winter so she could get to work. Myrna left Lincoln for a while, but Orr said, "Next thing I know, she's back in the valley." They married after that.

They now live on 47 acres near the river, and Orr said taking care of stuff around the house has been keeping him busy since retirement.

"We get a kick out of watching older shows," he added, saying they're working their way through "NYPD Blue" right now.

Orr is known for volunteer efforts throughout Lincoln, perhaps most famously for his service with the Ponderosa Snow Warriors and for the renowned sourdough pancakes he served up at the annual Ponderosa Snow Warriors pancake breakfasts for decades.

In another story in Gold Pans, Orr is recognized for being the driver of Lincoln's first ambulance, a black Buick purchased in the 1960s by the Lincoln Lions' Club, when it eventually broke down in Great Falls at Deaconess Hospital on an emergency run.