On Monday, March 25, 2019, Raymond Mauri Rauanheimo, “Ray,” loving husband, father, and grandfather, passed away at the age of 81. He lived a full and inspiring life, loved well and was loved much in return, and devoted himself to a variety of service projects that were close to his heart.
Ray was born Nov. 13, 1937 in Brooklyn, N.Y. He spent his youth growing up in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., where he graduated high school (’55) and joined the New Jersey National Guard at the age of 17.
His professional career was as a Customer Service Engineer for IBM (retired in 1991) and he could fix anything. He also served as an Instructor for IBM and enjoyed helping teach and learning new things.
Simultaneously, his other career was in the New Jersey National Guard (Major, retired) in which he served officially for 43 years and remained extremely involved with thereafter. Ray’s true passion was serving others, improving things, and bringing people together. He served in so many roles on so many projects, from the Warminster Library Board to the AARP Drivers’ Safety Program to the National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey. He was committed to providing military honors at funerals to honor those who have served through both the New Jersey Honor Guard Program and USAR Honor Guard Program. His most recent efforts were focused on taking better care of our Veteran Gravesites everywhere through the Guardians of the National Veterans Cemetery and by founding the Veterans Interment Records Project. Every project he took on, and every person he helped, he made a labor of love.
Ray was a lot of fun as well. He enjoyed learning about a wide variety of things. He was a member of MENSA, qualifying in 1958. He was a proud American citizen and a Finnish citizen with royal lineage. He enjoyed diving into genealogy and spent hours investigating complex family trees. Although he lived in Pennsylvania, he kept a strong connection to his friends around the Manasquan Inlet and the fishing docks. He traveled to Florida, Finland, California, Australia, Vermont, Canada, and anywhere there was a good road trip to be had. Last summer you could find him exploring Malta, an island in the Mediterranean, by foot, bus, van, boat, and jet ski. Ray was preceded in death by his father, Kaleva, his mother, Florence, and his brother, Robert.
He is survived by many who will miss him dearly, including his wife, Kathy, his daughter, Debbi (Casey) and her husband, Steve (McMillan), and his grandchildren, Mikayla Joan, Michael Raymond, Matthew Thomas, and Liam Jonathan. He also was loved by and is survived by his step-daughter, Donna Marron, her husband, Joe Jenkins, and his granddaughters, Ashley and Cara. Ray was the oldest of seven siblings and will be prayed for and remembered with love always by his sister, Leslie (and husband, John Hooker), and brothers, Ronnie, Russell (and wife, Yvonne), Mike Wallace (and wife, Sharon), and Guy Wallace (and husband, Doug Rice).
Relatives and friends will be received from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 28, and from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday, at The Decker Funeral Home, 216 York Road, Warminster. Interment will be in Whitemarsh Memorial Park.
The Intelligencer
Ray was born Nov. 13, 1937 in Brooklyn, N.Y. He spent his youth growing up in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., where he graduated high school (’55) and joined the New Jersey National Guard at the age of 17.
His professional career was as a Customer Service Engineer for IBM (retired in 1991) and he could fix anything. He also served as an Instructor for IBM and enjoyed helping teach and learning new things.
Simultaneously, his other career was in the New Jersey National Guard (Major, retired) in which he served officially for 43 years and remained extremely involved with thereafter. Ray’s true passion was serving others, improving things, and bringing people together. He served in so many roles on so many projects, from the Warminster Library Board to the AARP Drivers’ Safety Program to the National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey. He was committed to providing military honors at funerals to honor those who have served through both the New Jersey Honor Guard Program and USAR Honor Guard Program. His most recent efforts were focused on taking better care of our Veteran Gravesites everywhere through the Guardians of the National Veterans Cemetery and by founding the Veterans Interment Records Project. Every project he took on, and every person he helped, he made a labor of love.
Ray was a lot of fun as well. He enjoyed learning about a wide variety of things. He was a member of MENSA, qualifying in 1958. He was a proud American citizen and a Finnish citizen with royal lineage. He enjoyed diving into genealogy and spent hours investigating complex family trees. Although he lived in Pennsylvania, he kept a strong connection to his friends around the Manasquan Inlet and the fishing docks. He traveled to Florida, Finland, California, Australia, Vermont, Canada, and anywhere there was a good road trip to be had. Last summer you could find him exploring Malta, an island in the Mediterranean, by foot, bus, van, boat, and jet ski. Ray was preceded in death by his father, Kaleva, his mother, Florence, and his brother, Robert.
He is survived by many who will miss him dearly, including his wife, Kathy, his daughter, Debbi (Casey) and her husband, Steve (McMillan), and his grandchildren, Mikayla Joan, Michael Raymond, Matthew Thomas, and Liam Jonathan. He also was loved by and is survived by his step-daughter, Donna Marron, her husband, Joe Jenkins, and his granddaughters, Ashley and Cara. Ray was the oldest of seven siblings and will be prayed for and remembered with love always by his sister, Leslie (and husband, John Hooker), and brothers, Ronnie, Russell (and wife, Yvonne), Mike Wallace (and wife, Sharon), and Guy Wallace (and husband, Doug Rice).
Relatives and friends will be received from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 28, and from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday, at The Decker Funeral Home, 216 York Road, Warminster. Interment will be in Whitemarsh Memorial Park.
The Intelligencer
On Monday, March 25, 2019, Raymond Mauri Rauanheimo, “Ray,” loving husband, father, and grandfather, passed away at the age of 81. He lived a full and inspiring life, loved well and was loved much in return, and devoted himself to a variety of service projects that were close to his heart.
Ray was born Nov. 13, 1937 in Brooklyn, N.Y. He spent his youth growing up in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., where he graduated high school (’55) and joined the New Jersey National Guard at the age of 17.
His professional career was as a Customer Service Engineer for IBM (retired in 1991) and he could fix anything. He also served as an Instructor for IBM and enjoyed helping teach and learning new things.
Simultaneously, his other career was in the New Jersey National Guard (Major, retired) in which he served officially for 43 years and remained extremely involved with thereafter. Ray’s true passion was serving others, improving things, and bringing people together. He served in so many roles on so many projects, from the Warminster Library Board to the AARP Drivers’ Safety Program to the National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey. He was committed to providing military honors at funerals to honor those who have served through both the New Jersey Honor Guard Program and USAR Honor Guard Program. His most recent efforts were focused on taking better care of our Veteran Gravesites everywhere through the Guardians of the National Veterans Cemetery and by founding the Veterans Interment Records Project. Every project he took on, and every person he helped, he made a labor of love.
Ray was a lot of fun as well. He enjoyed learning about a wide variety of things. He was a member of MENSA, qualifying in 1958. He was a proud American citizen and a Finnish citizen with royal lineage. He enjoyed diving into genealogy and spent hours investigating complex family trees. Although he lived in Pennsylvania, he kept a strong connection to his friends around the Manasquan Inlet and the fishing docks. He traveled to Florida, Finland, California, Australia, Vermont, Canada, and anywhere there was a good road trip to be had. Last summer you could find him exploring Malta, an island in the Mediterranean, by foot, bus, van, boat, and jet ski. Ray was preceded in death by his father, Kaleva, his mother, Florence, and his brother, Robert.
He is survived by many who will miss him dearly, including his wife, Kathy, his daughter, Debbi (Casey) and her husband, Steve (McMillan), and his grandchildren, Mikayla Joan, Michael Raymond, Matthew Thomas, and Liam Jonathan. He also was loved by and is survived by his step-daughter, Donna Marron, her husband, Joe Jenkins, and his granddaughters, Ashley and Cara. Ray was the oldest of seven siblings and will be prayed for and remembered with love always by his sister, Leslie (and husband, John Hooker), and brothers, Ronnie, Russell (and wife, Yvonne), Mike Wallace (and wife, Sharon), and Guy Wallace (and husband, Doug Rice).
Relatives and friends will be received from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 28, and from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday, at The Decker Funeral Home, 216 York Road, Warminster. Interment will be in Whitemarsh Memorial Park.
The Intelligencer
Ray was born Nov. 13, 1937 in Brooklyn, N.Y. He spent his youth growing up in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., where he graduated high school (’55) and joined the New Jersey National Guard at the age of 17.
His professional career was as a Customer Service Engineer for IBM (retired in 1991) and he could fix anything. He also served as an Instructor for IBM and enjoyed helping teach and learning new things.
Simultaneously, his other career was in the New Jersey National Guard (Major, retired) in which he served officially for 43 years and remained extremely involved with thereafter. Ray’s true passion was serving others, improving things, and bringing people together. He served in so many roles on so many projects, from the Warminster Library Board to the AARP Drivers’ Safety Program to the National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey. He was committed to providing military honors at funerals to honor those who have served through both the New Jersey Honor Guard Program and USAR Honor Guard Program. His most recent efforts were focused on taking better care of our Veteran Gravesites everywhere through the Guardians of the National Veterans Cemetery and by founding the Veterans Interment Records Project. Every project he took on, and every person he helped, he made a labor of love.
Ray was a lot of fun as well. He enjoyed learning about a wide variety of things. He was a member of MENSA, qualifying in 1958. He was a proud American citizen and a Finnish citizen with royal lineage. He enjoyed diving into genealogy and spent hours investigating complex family trees. Although he lived in Pennsylvania, he kept a strong connection to his friends around the Manasquan Inlet and the fishing docks. He traveled to Florida, Finland, California, Australia, Vermont, Canada, and anywhere there was a good road trip to be had. Last summer you could find him exploring Malta, an island in the Mediterranean, by foot, bus, van, boat, and jet ski. Ray was preceded in death by his father, Kaleva, his mother, Florence, and his brother, Robert.
He is survived by many who will miss him dearly, including his wife, Kathy, his daughter, Debbi (Casey) and her husband, Steve (McMillan), and his grandchildren, Mikayla Joan, Michael Raymond, Matthew Thomas, and Liam Jonathan. He also was loved by and is survived by his step-daughter, Donna Marron, her husband, Joe Jenkins, and his granddaughters, Ashley and Cara. Ray was the oldest of seven siblings and will be prayed for and remembered with love always by his sister, Leslie (and husband, John Hooker), and brothers, Ronnie, Russell (and wife, Yvonne), Mike Wallace (and wife, Sharon), and Guy Wallace (and husband, Doug Rice).
Relatives and friends will be received from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 28, and from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday, at The Decker Funeral Home, 216 York Road, Warminster. Interment will be in Whitemarsh Memorial Park.
The Intelligencer
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