[4][5] Ortha Barr was a student at the now defunct Lima College, an Evangelical Lutheran institution which operated from 1893 to 1908.
[2] His father, Dr. E. J. Barr was Allen County Sheriff at the time, winning two terms and serving for 15 years, from 1901 to 1916.
[2] Like his father, Ortha Barr was a member of the Democratic Party and served on the Allen County Central Committee.
[2][9] On September 4, 1907, Ortha O. Barr married Bertha Anna Woerner (1881-1953) of Burlington, Des Moines, Iowa, with whom he had five children, Catharine E[10].
[2][11][12] Ortha Barr Sr. held different roles in several social clubs and fraternal societies in Ohio, including President (1943–44) of the Lima Sertoma Club, Member, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, local chapter Grandmaster of the Knights of Pythias and the honorific “Esteemed Lecturing Knight” of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
[4][5] Ortha Barr Sr. continued operating his family’s hotel business after active retirement from politics.
Together with his wife, Bertha and another couple, Barr was involved in an auto accident involving a truck in Wapakoneta, Auglaize County, Ohio in September 1953, on their return from a wedding anniversary vacation in Connersville, Indiana.
Shortly after their marriage, Barr joined Lena Rudy in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California where she lived with her mother, Belle and worked as a film studio musician.