News Release North Platte Public Schools Foundation
The North Platte Public Schools Foundation announced its 2022 Distinguished Alumni on June 22. Scott Orr, Class of 1972, and Rod Anderson, Class of 1979, will be honored at Education After Hours on July 29 at Venue304, 304 E. Fifth St.
Scott Orr
Scott Orr was born and raised in North Platte. He has two siblings, Roxy and Kirk. He attended Jefferson Elementary School and graduated from high school in 1972. After high school, he joined the U.S. Air Force where he served his tour at McConnell Air Force base in Wichita, Kansas. During that time, Orr met his now wife, Cyndee Hale.
After his time in the military, he returned to North Platte to join the family business, Orr’s Cleaners. A couple of years later, Scott expanded the business to include window coverings, selling custom drapes and window blinds, changing the name to Orr’s Draperies and Dry Cleaning. In 1988, Orr bought the business from his parents, Ed and Bunny Orr.
He is a member of First Presbyterian Church, currently serving as a deacon, and is an elder in the church. He is a past president and has served on the board of the North Platte Public School Foundation. He is a member and past president of the North Platte noon Rotary Club, a Paul Harris Fellow, currently serving on the board. Orr has served two terms on the board of the North Platte Chamber of Commerce and served five years on the Nebraskaland Days board. He is an active Cody Cavalry volunteer. He is an active member of the Westfield Merchant Association. Orr’s Cleaners collects and cleans coats to donate to the Salvation Army during the holiday season. He is a reading volunteer at Cody Elementary a couple of times a year. He has also served for 15 years on the board of the Nebraska Dry Cleaners Association and is a past president.
The Orrs were married in 1977 and will celebrate 45 years of marriage this year. They have two children, Brett and Ashlee. Brett and his wife, Bridget, live in Mesa, Arizona, with two boys, Kason and Kolby. Ashlee and her husband, Aaron, live in Lenexa, Kansas, with two children, Nolan and Brooklyn.
Rod Anderson
Anderson graduated from North Platte High School in 1979. He was class valedictorian and senior class president. He participated in marching and swing band, under the tutelage of Virgil French, and played the baritone saxophone.
Anderson lettered in three sports — cross country, basketball and track. The cross country team placed second at state his junior and senior years. The basketball team played in the state basketball tournament his junior and senior seasons under coach Tom Millsap. Anderson also ran the 880- yard run in track and qualified for the state meet each year of high school. He received a Regents Scholarship and attended Kearney State College (now University of Nebraska at Kearney). Anderson graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in business with an emphasis in accounting. He took and passed the Certified Public Accountants exam during the last semester of his senior year. After graduation from Kearney State College, Anderson began his career with Arthur Andersen in Omaha. He began to specialize on tax issues affecting power and utility clients and was promoted to tax manager in 1988. He was a frequent instructor at internal and external events and was active in college campus recruiting and spoke at college accounting classes about the accounting profession and careers in taxes. He was awarded the Kearney State College of Business Distinguished Alumni award in 1989. While at Arthur Andersen, he met Stephanie Horeis. They married in 1986 and they have two children: Parker graduated from Saint Louis University and is a CPA in Tampa, Florida. Mackenzie graduated from the University of Nebraska and is marketing coordinator in Omaha. Arthur Andersen promoted Anderson to a partner in 1996. Shortly thereafter he assumed the lead role for the Omaha tax practice. He continued to work extensively with power and utility clients and became a part of Arthur Andersen’s national power and utility tax practice. When Arthur Andersen disbanded in 2002, Anderson worked with other Omaha partners to ensure that all employees of the Omaha office had continuing employment, which was achieved when the entire office joined the Omaha office of KPMG. Throughout that time, he leaned heavily on the values learned growing up in North Platte. Doing the right thing, treating everyone as they should be treated and giving honest, sometimes difficult, feedback drove his leadership decisions. Anderson assumed the lead tax partner role for the Nebraska office — Omaha and Lincoln. He was named KPMG’s National Tax Leader for Power and Utilities in 2012 where he was responsible for providing support and expertise for KPMG’s power and utility clients throughout the United States. In order to devote more of his efforts to his national role, Rod transferred to KPMG’s office in Houston in 2014. In his national role, he became very involved in assisting clients with new investments in renewable energy projects (wind and solar). After six years in Houston, Rod and his wife, Stephanie, have retired and relocated to Sarasota, Florida, and enjoy living near Stephanie’s aunts and uncle.
Education After Hours raises funds to support scholarships, grants and programs for NPPSFoundation. This year's theme is "That's 70's Party". You are encouraged to wear your 70's attire. Ticket proceeds will fund the "Future Distinguished Alumni Scholarship" The cost is $60 and are available at www.nppsf.org/alumni or email nppsf@nppsd.org.