Orlando I. Pollard

Orlando Pollard Sr. of Ridgefield Park, NJ, passed away on February 27, 2023 at the age of 81, after a brief battle with cancer.

Orlando was born in Belize on July 31st, 1941 to Rachel and Liberato Pollard.  He married Yvonne, his wife of 62 years.  Together, they had 8 children-Orlando Jr., Michael, Desiree, Indira, Farley, Virgil, Karina and Brook.  In Belize, Orlando had a successful career in law enforcement.  He served as a prosecutor in the lower courts and was later promoted to Head of Crimes Intelligence.  He was very proud of his professional accomplishments, was well liked and held in high esteem in Belize, since he was known to enforce the laws of Belize and hold accountable, anyone who broke the law.

After he retired from public service in Belize, he migrated to the US in 1992, and was joined by Yvonne in 1993.  They settled in Ridgefield Park, with Brook, their youngest son, and lived in close proximity to their daughter, Desiree (and her family) and were later joined by Virgil and his family.  Together, Orlando and Yvonne instilled high moral values in their children, and taught them the value of a good education, hard work, being kind, charitable and respectable to all.  In his last conversation with Desiree while on his way to his last appointment at Memorial Sloan Kettering, he told her that all he wanted, as a parent, was for his children to be good people, and that he was very proud of who they’ve become. 

He was a man of deep faith, and enjoyed celebrating holidays and birthdays with his family and enjoyed spending time with them.  He and Yvonne enjoyed life in their Ridgefield Park community and worshipped at St John’s in Hasbrouck Heights, where they formed close and meaningful friendships.

Orlando is survived by his wife, Yvonne, their 8 children, Orlando Jr., Michael, Desiree, Indira, Farley, Virgil, Karina and Brook, along with his sons and daughters in law, Phillipa, Steven, Salvador, Denise and Sean, several grandchildren and great grandchildren and siblings Eduardo, Pamela and Sandra.

Orlando’s final wish was to be buried in his home country of Belize.  Funeral services are being planned for mid-March.

In lieu of flowers, a personalized giving page dedicated to Orlando’s memory, has been set up at Memorial Sloan Kettering.  He realized the importance of cancer research and would like to have donations made in his memory, earmarked for research that is being done by his oncologist, Dr. Maliha Nusrat.  Online donations may be made using the following link: http://mskcc.convio.net/gotoOrlandoPollardSr. Checks made payable to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center should be mailed to:

Attn:  Community Fundraising

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Office of Development

P.O. Box 27106

New York, NY 10087

Please indicate on the check memo line that the gift is “In memory of Orlando Pollard Sr”.

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