Joseph Barclay Orton
January 9, 1952 - March 18, 2023

Joseph “Joe” Barclay Orton, 71, of Kirbyville, Texas, passed away March 18, 2023, at his home. He was born in Baytown, Texas to Harold and Matilda (Roberts) Orton on January 9, 1952. The oldest of four children, Joe grew up in Beaumont, the greater Houston area, Albuquerque, NM, Quantico, VA, and eventually graduated from East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah.

After graduating from high school, Joe served in the Navy on the USS Coral in the Vietnam War from 1971 until his honorable discharge in 1974.

A short time later, Joe returned to Texas and attended Lamar University in Beaumont, where he majored in physics and minored in geology. Joe loved music and was instrumental in booking bands to play live at Lamar University during his time there as a student. This was one of his favorite pastimes. His most favorite pastime, though, was windsurfing.

As a young man, Joe’s happiest days were spent windsurfing in Sabine Lake at the North Shore of Pleasure Island in Windsurfer’s Cove. He was involved in the Port Arthur Sailing Association and even served as the Sailboard Commissioner. Joe loved that ‘laid back’ island way of living and thinking. ‘No hurry, no worry.’

After graduation, Joe worked as a process engineer at Great Lakes Carbon in Port Arthur, Texas for many years. Later, Joe returned to his alma mater at Lamar University in Beaumont to teach Statistical Process Engineering. Joe loved to see his students excel and would go above and beyond to help them reach their full potential.

Like the true ‘gem’ that he was, Joe was a social butterfly, who loved being around people and taking care of them. So, eventually he settled into a Customer Service Management position at H-E-B in Austin, TX, where he stayed until retirement in 2017.

Beloved father, brother, uncle, and friend, Joe is survived by his daughter, Lyndsay Orton, and her wife, Jacqueline Pérez, of Pflugerville, TX; his brothers and their wives, Timothy & Ruth Orton of Ramona, CA, and Sam & Ann Orton of Dallas, TX, and his sister, Lou Burgin of Koppel, PA.