Orry C. Walz was born in western Kansas on January 24, 1907. After graduating from high school in 1924, he passed the county teachers’ exam the following year and taught at a local school for several years. In 1927, Walz enrolled at the University of Kansas (KU) where he majored in philosophy and psychology. In 1933, he accepted a fellowship at the University of Chicago. He married Lua Banks that same year and together they had a son, David, in 1935 before the couple divorced in 1938. During World War Two, he served as a Red Cross field director in Curacao, Trinidad, and Cuba.

Following his marriage to Betty Payne in 1947, he decided to go back to KU and do graduate work in sociology. In order to get his doctorate in sociology, he was required to take classes at a different university for a year which he did at UW Madison in 1950. He would graduate with a Ph.D. in Sociology from KU in 1954. He went on to teach sociology at East Central State College in Oklahoma and Mankato State College in Minnesota before coming to UW-Eau Claire in 1962. Walz served as the chairman of the Sociology Department at UW-Eau Claire from 1963 to 1965 and would remain a Sociology professor there until he retired in 1972. He was greatly involved with the university as he served on numerous faculty and Sociology department boards and committees during his time there.

Outside of being a professor, Walz wrote many poems, short stories, book reviews, and essays as well as conducting several research projects. One of his most known works is a publication about the early history of Eau Claire which is featured in this collection. He also held a long time interest in the Ifugao people of the Mountain Province of Luzon in the Philippines, having visited them during a trip in 1964. He created an Ifugao exhibit for UW Eau Claire, built a scale model of a Ifugao house for the Field Museum in Chicago, and built two scale model Chippewa lodges for the Chippewa Valley Museum. In retirement, Walz and his wife, Betty, volunteered often at the Chippewa Valley Museum. In addition, he continued to be involved with the Sociology Department at UW-EC. Orry Walz passed away on December 31, 1992, in Eau Claire at the age of 84.