- Date Of Birth: June 2, 1929
- Date Of Death: October 22, 2022
- State: New Mexico
Edmund Raymond Meyer was born on June 2, 1929, to Henry and Katherine Meyer in Gulfport, MS. He passed away October 22, 2022, at 93 years of age. At 14 years old, for his mother’s health, he and his brother and mother moved to Denver, Colorado. He graduated high school in 1934 and attended Colorado A&M for one and a quarter year, but lack of money made him quit and join the Navy to take advantage of the G.I. Bill. In 1948 he attended weather school in Lakehurst, NJ, before transferring to Fleet Weather Central in San Diego, CA.
Ray went overseas to Korea on the carrier USS Philippine Sea in January 1952, returning in August. After six weeks of dating, he and Betty Gray eloped to Yuma, AZ, on November 22, 1952. Ray was discharged from the Navy in December 1952. After Betty’s discharge in January 1953, Ray and his new bride returned to college to complete his degree in forestry. His career as a forester lasted 28 years.
In 1956, while Ray was on the Coconino National Forest as a Forestry Aide, his son Ken was born in Flagstaff, AZ. In 1959, while Ray was still on the Coconino as a Watershed Staff Specialist in Beaver Creek, AZ, his daughter Katherine was born in Cottonwood, AZ. For 14 years in Springerville, AZ, Ray was Timber Staff Officer at the Supervisor’s Office for the Apache National Forest. While on the Apache National Forest, he was liaison for a year on a powerline project crossing the forest from Four Corners to Tucson, AZ. Come the fire seasons, Ray was camp boss at various fire camps. In 1976, he and his family transferred from the Supervisor’s Office in Springerville to the Regional Office in Albuquerque, NM. Ray retired in 1984.
Ray loved the outdoors, fishing, and hunting deer and elk with his brother and friends. Ray enjoyed reading western novels, especially those by Zane Gray, as well as hunting and gun magazines. He is survived by his wife Betty, son Ken and his wife Glenda, and daughter Kathy.
