Horace Linwood Orton, III passed away peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday, October 22, 2019 at his home in Bowie, Maryland.   Horace was born in Portsmouth, Virginia on July 8, 1945 to the late Horace L. Orton, Jr and the late Lillian Vann Young. He was the oldest of 7 children with 3 younger brothers, and 3 younger sisters.  The family lived in Portsmouth, VA until 1958 when they moved to Richmond, VA.  There Horace attended and graduated from Armstrong Senior High School.  He went on to become the first person in his family to attend and graduate from college receiving a bachelor's degree in biology from Virginia Union University.  He became an oceanographer traveling aboard ships to study the oceans, but gave up traveling soon after becoming a father to be home with his young family.  He went on to work at the U.S. Census Bureau and the Defense Mapping Agency Hydrographic Topographic Center as a cartographer, retiring from the Federal Government. He was a member of Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church where he served in a variety of ministries including the bus ministry as an outreach to the community.   He was an ordained deacon and was honored with Deacon Emeritus status in 2014.

In the last decade of his life, Horace's health declined, but his faith never wavered.  He remained steadfast in his belief that each day was a God given gift and an opportunity to get better and to do better.  His legacy of love, family, and commitment to the work of Christ can be seen in the lives of those who mourn his loss: his 2 children Ainisha Persaud and Damani Orton, his son-in-law, Mani Persaud, who cherished him like a father, his 3 beautiful grandchildren: Anand, Arya, and Azana Persaud; and his brothers: Ronnie Orton (deceased), Reginald Orton (Essie) and Dennis Orton (Brenda) his sisters: Jewel Orton, Trudy Orton Edwards (Andy) and Althea Bragg (Roscoe), and a host of cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.   But truly Horace loved no one more than his beloved Gladys Marie Orton with whom he was proud to have built a life, imperfect though it may have been, a life of love that he cherished nonetheless.

Services to honor and celebrate the life of Horace Orton will be held on Friday, November 1, 2019 at Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church at 3000 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, Washington, DC.  Visitation will begin at 10am and the funeral will begin at 11am.  Interment will follow immediately after the service at Cedar Hill Cemetery on Pennsylvania Ave. in Suitland, MD and the repast will be held back at the church.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made the Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church bus ministry in his name.  The family is overwhelmed and grateful for the outpouring of love and support they have received and blessed by the wonderful stories people have shared of the memories of Horace.  He will truly be missed.