Raymond Edward Smith

Ray was born Jun. 17, 1932 in Freeport, Long Island, New York, only son of Madelyn Holman (Jones), teacher at an Unkechaug Nation reservation school in Long Island, and Jerry Edward Smith, a chauffeur. He first attended the school where his mother worked, but when it closed, the family moved to Jamaica, Queens, New York. Growing up, he loved baseball, pitching in both sandlot games and the Police Athletic League, and was proud of a chance he once had to show his stuff to the-Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickey.

He attended Andrew Jackson High School in Queens, then went on to Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, taking steps to military service through Army ROTC. In 1953, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Health & Physical Education and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant (2LT). His initial two-year obligation would become a 20-year career, earning decorations including the Bronze Star and Legion of Merit.

Ray started with the Army Medical Service Corps, but soon headed to flight school, first at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, then at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Starting in Korea, he spent a decade flying Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) helicopters, transporting the injured to Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) units. He served as a helicopter ambulance unit commander in Korea in 1955, and later, in West Germany, from 1961-’63.

Returning stateside, Ray earned a Hospital Administration Master’s degree in 1966 from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. His Army career continued with hospital administrative assignments including Valley Forge General Hospital in Pennsylvania; Fort Polk, Louisiana; Vietnam; Fort Dix, New Jersey; and in Washington, DC, at Walter Reed Hospital and the Office of the Army Surgeon General. He reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) before retiring in 1973.

Ray’s civilian sector transition returned him to Pennsylvania, first as a clinic administrator at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) from 1974-’76, then to Harrisburg, as Director, Bureau of Hospitals for the state’s Health Department from 1976-’79. Health challenges led him cross-country to the drier climate of San Diego, where he worked as a Hospital Contracts Manager for Blue Cross from 1979-’88, then with Community Care Network from 1989 until his civilian retirement in 1995.

Ray was a longtime member of St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in San Diego, and was involved with many organizations, including Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., which he joined in 1952; Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity (Boule’); DUSTOFF Association; Tuskegee Airmen; and Solo pilots, where he served on the Board of Directors. He was an avid reader and loved traveling.

Ray married four times and was father to seven children. He was preceded in death by his parents; first wife, Kay; second wife, Margaret “Peggy”; fourth wife, Lena; daughter Michelle; sons Gerald “Jerry” and Kevin; stepson Brian; and son-in-law Tyrone. He is survived by his third wife, Elizabeth “Lisa”; brother-in-law Jimmy; daughter Doris “Jeannie”; sons Douglas (wife Rose), Ronald, and Edward; stepson Brent (wife Kim); daughter-in-law Beverly; grandchildren Jasmine, Eddie, Douglas “Deuce”, Michele (mother Alice), Alex, Jonathan, Nathaniel, Kendra, Nicholas, Thayer, Talisyn, and Bianca; 5 great-grandchildren; a host of nephews, nieces, cousins, extended family, and loved ones.