INDIANAPOLIS -- Former Gov. Robert D. Orr, who energized the state's economy during the 1980s and overhauled its education system, died Wednesday night, a former aide said. Orr was 86.
Orr died at Indiana University Medical Center at 9:17 p.m., said Mark Lubbers, a longtime associate of the former governor. The probable cause of death was believed to be heart arrhythmia, Lubbers said.
Orr, a Republican, spent 16 years in the state's top two offices, serving two terms as lieutenant governor beginning in 1973 and then governor from 1981 to 1989. He was barred from a third term.
''Being governor is the best elective office you can have in this country,'' Orr said in 1995, six years after leaving office. ''It's better than being president. When you're governor, you don't become a prisoner of the job. You can do the work and still have a life.''
After leaving office in 1989, he was named U.S. ambassador to Singapore.
''Indiana has lost a devoted public servant, and he will be missed but also remembered as a great Hoosier,'' said former Gov. Otis ''Doc'' Bowen, who was elected twice with Orr as his running mate.
As governor, Orr presided over the strengthening of the state's economy following the recession of the early 1980s. He also oversaw the removal of the state license branch system from political control and led an aggressive effort to promote the export of Indiana products -- a crusade he maintained long after leaving office.
Orr's major achievement was passage of a sweeping educational reform package in 1987. The ''A-Plus'' package required student achievement exams, a new school accreditation system based on performance and rewards for schools that showed improvement.
He also pushed two major tax increases through the General Assembly, one in 1987 to pay for the education program and one in 1982 -- just after the November election -- to fix budget problems. Republicans controlled the Legislature both times, something Democrats have often noted in recent tax debates.
Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus, said Orr was a powerful leader whose reach sometimes was underrated because he followed such a popular governor in Bowen.
But Garton said Orr prepared Indiana for the new economy and helped reform the state's education and tax systems, among other things.
''His influence will certainly live beyond his life and it's really a lasting legacy to leadership,'' he said.
Orr also was known for his humility.
''He was a very gentle man, a very good man, a very caring man,'' said Gordon Durnil, who served as state GOP chairman while Orr was governor. ''During all kinds of turmoil or trouble or whatever you first thought when you walked into the room or his office, his first words were, 'How are you, how is your family?'''
In December, he underwent surgery for prostate and bladder cancer.
Orr had been admitted to the hospital Wednesday and was being treated for an apparent blockage in his kidney when his condition worsened, Lubbers said.
He was one of four former governors who attended services for the late Gov. Frank O'Bannon after he died of a stroke in September.
Orr graduated from Yale University in 1940, the same year he married Joanne Wallace. The couple had three children and divorced in 2000.
Orr attended Harvard Business School before enlisting in the Army in 1942. During World War II, Orr served in the Pacific theater and was commissioned a major.
Orr went to Evansville at the end of the war and entered the family business, Orr Iron Co. He was Vanderburgh County Republican chairman and was elected to the state Senate in 1968 before being elected lieutenant governor.
Orr was the last Republican elected governor in Indiana, winning his first term by more than 300,000 votes over John Hillenbrand. He was re-elected in 1984 by defeating state Sen. Wayne Townsend by more than 100,000 votes.
In his book ''The Indiana Way,'' historical author James Madison said Orr was among Indiana Republicans in the 1970s and 1980s who accepted ''much of the New Deal liberalism as it had evolved ... and attempted nonetheless to preserve some of Indiana's traditional attachments to individual freedom, self-help and simple government.''
As a governor in his 60s, Orr surrounded himself with a young staff. ''He loved young people,'' Lubbers said. ''He loved to be around energy and new ideas.''
He also loved government and politics to the end, attending big events such the state-of-the-state speeches given by Democratic governors who followed him. His loyalty to the GOP remained strong, however, and he was among those who urged Mitch Daniels to run for governor this year.
''I am tickled because I think he would make an excellent candidate and an excellent governor, and from my standpoint, the Republicans have been out of office for too long,'' Orr said in May, when it became apparent Daniels would run.
Orr married Mary K. Davis in January 2001. She was at his side when he died.
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