Uncle Ray

Raymond my mom’s oldest brother loved the Chicago Cubs. When we would visit the relatives up north we would stay with him and aunt Dorothy. I remember him sitting in front of the t.v. with Cub’s baseball games on and looking half asleep, but if you tried to change the channel he would say, “I was just resting my eyes and, yes, I’m watching the game!”

The summer I was nine years old we had a family reunion. My grandma was a little crippled up, so my uncle Ray went out and bought a used van. It had the Iowa Hawkeye’s emblem all over it. He must of got it from an alumni. I remember it being huge! My mom says it was very comfortable for grandma and that he did this for their mom.

He was a mechanic and a truck driver. He owned a trucking company.



He served in WWII. He trained out in Golden, Colorado. I’ve read an old letter that he sent to grandpa and grandma, stating that, "Mickey Rooney came and visited the troops and it was swell. And, by the way, me and Dorothy, his high school sweetheart, got married this weekend. Just thought I should let you folks know." He was military police in the Army. He was at battles in France and Okinawa, Japan! I never heard him talk about the war. It was just one of those things he didn’t talk about. He passed away in 1998, four days before his sister, Margaret.