Resident Donates Brain to Research

Marilu Trainor

Herb Orvis joins a select group of heroes who have donated their brain to help researchers study the impacts of repeated trauma to the head.

Orvis passed away Aug. 14, and knew his body would likely suffer from his battles on the gridiron, which led to a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease in 2008. What he often told others, however, is that he wondered about also having Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a progressive neurodegenerative disease, like many of his former player friends.

In about a year, Orvis’ family, friends, and medical team will know the answer to his question when a report is completed by the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank, a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Boston University, the Concussion Legacy Foundation, and the largest brain bank in the world. For more information, see www.concussionfoundation.org.

20 Year Football Career

Herb Orvis was born Oct. 17, 1946, in Petoskey, Mich. He played a total of 20 years as a defensive lineman playing in high school, military, college, and professional football. After football, he owned a Florida art gallery and was a citrus farmer.

Orvis was drafted by the U.S. Army during his senior year at Flint (Mich.) Beecher High School, and would earn his diploma after serving overseas. He entered the University of Colorado as a freshman in 1968.

He earned many awards at CU, including Big Eight Conference Newcomer of the Year 1969; two-time first-team All-Big Eight Conference 1970/71, and consensus 71 All-American. Colorado was 24-10 in the three seasons he lettered, earning bowl invitations all three years. Orvis was a member of the Big Eight’s All-Decade (1970s) and the Liberty Bowl All-Decade teams for both the 60s and the 70s. He was enshrined in the Big Eight Hall of Fame (1982). In 1989, he was named to CU’s All-Century Football Team, and the CU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014. In celebration of the 150th Anniversary of College Football in 2019, he was named to the Football Bowl Association’s Top 150 all-time bowl game performers (the only Buffalo to be honored).

Orvis was one of fourteen players inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2016. In 2019, he was inducted into the Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame, and was also named as one of the 25 greatest football players of all-time from the Flint area that year.

Orvis was a first-round pick by the Detroit Lions in the 1972 National Football League Draft, as the 16th player selected overall. He played in 122 NFL games with Detroit (1972-77) and the Baltimore Colts (1978-81). He was a second-team All-NFC performer at tackle for the Lions in 1975.

In PebbleCreek

Orvis and his fiancé, Marilu Trainor, moved to PebbleCreek in 2015. He is survived by his fiancé, sons, Gabriel and Wilson, seven grandchildren, his brother Dave, and his sister Daeanna, and their families. Herb and Marilu enjoyed PebbleCreek Bocce, Italian-American Club, and activities in Unit 38.