Walter H. Ordway, Jr., was born on February 17, 1947 to Walter and Mary (McGinnis) Ordway. He attended school in Soldier, Iowa, and East Monona through his junior year when he went to Augustana Academy in Sioux Falls, SD, where he graduated from high school. Walter was very active in sports, the boys' quartet and the school's play. He then attended Luther College in Decorah, IA and received his B.A. in Art and History. During his time at Luther College, Walter began his adventurous world of traveling. His first international experience occurred when he traveled to Central America to dig for pre Colombian pottery with other Luther college students.
Following his graduation from Luther in 1969, he traveled to Ecuador as a member of the Peace Corp. After leaving the Peace Corp in 1971, Walter canoed down the Napo river on the start of what developed into a 9-month exploration through Central and South America. During that trip, an encounter with the Amazon Indians turned out to be a turning point in Walter's life. It was the first time that the philosophies, religions, and lifestyles of other cultures, which offered the possibilities for alternate ways of life, became a reality rather than an abstract concept.
That realization prompted him to return to America and explore his own country. He travelled throughout the U.S. in a van before returning to South America in 1973. In 1980, he sailed across the Atlantic with 5 others on a 7-month voyage. For the next six years, he rode his bike from Ireland to New Zealand. He biked across the Himalayas to Nepal and spent 2 1/2 years exploring Asia. He returned to the United States in November 1986. While traveling, Walter first carried a sketchbook. He regularly traded his drawings of the people and places for food or a place to stay. Later, he carried a Super8 movie camera to record many of those places. He shared his drawings and letters and films with everyone.
After returning to the U.S., Walter made his home on the family farm near Soldier, IA. After the death ofhis parents, he took over the farm and re-established a connection to the land converting it to an organic farm.
Walter was involved with the department of reality tourism, with projects in both Iowa and Wisconsin. He helped establish bus tours in the Loess Hills of Western Iowa and bike routes in Trempeleau County, Wisconsin. After attending MountainFilm Festival in Telluride, Colorado, he and friend Kryl Henderson initiated the Oneota Film Festival at Luther College in Decorah in 2010. He also helped initiate Frozen River Film Festival in Winona, Minnesota.
Walter H. Ordway, Jr., 67, died from an accidental drowning on November 17, 2014 after he rushed onto the ice at Olham Pond near Soldier to rescue his beloved dog, Louis II.
