- Date Of Birth: September 4, 1937
- Date Of Death: May 17, 2022
- State: Connecticut
Raymond J. Oliver, age 84, of Trumbull, the beloved widower of Myra M. Oliver, passed away on May 17, 2022 at St. Vincent’s Medical Center. He was born in Waterbury, the eldest child to the late Raymond E. Oliver and Rita (Hartigan). Ray grew up working side by side with his parents in the family grocery business, Oliver’s Brothers Market, on East Main Street in Waterbury. He later served in the Army Reserves before becoming a long-time salesman for Metropolitan LIfe insurance company.
Ray met the love of his life, Myra, on a blind date in the late 1950s. They were married for 48 years, settling in Trumbull in 1968, before her passing in 2008. Their marriage produced four sons and more than 30,000 new American citizens, due to Myra’s work resettling immigrants into a new life in the United States as the long-time executive director of the International Institute of Connecticut in Bridgeport.
Ray received a bachelor’s degree from Fairfield University, the first in his family to graduate college. His mother Rita saved spare change from the family’s market to help put him through school.
Ray was an avid runner and swimmer. He ran 21 New York City marathons and more than 30 overall. He was a gentle, honest, modest, deeply religious man of incredible integrity.
Ray was a volunteer for several organizations, including serving as a volunteer at St.
In the latter part of his life, Ray was surrounded by love and laughter from his companion Judy Larkin Nicolari and the warm embrace of her daughters Lynn, Lisa, Patty and Carolyn.
Ray always had a “take-one-day-at-a-time” approach to life, trusting in God the whole time. He never bragged about himself, but only of his wife, family and friends. He was the rock of his family and he will be deeply missed and never forgotten.
He is survived by his children TImothy Oliver and his wife Teresa of New York City, James Oliver and his wife Yanet of Oviedo, Florida, Raymond Oliver and his wife Shelly of Oviedo, Florida, John Oliver and his wife Marlene of Folly Beach, South Carolina, his brother Robert and his wife Priscilla of North Chatham, Massachusetts; grandchildren (Caity, Christopher, Claire, Clayton, Daniel, John Henry, Jonathan and Nichole); step-grandchildren (Anthony, Jonathan, Jordan Joseph and Marco); great-grandchildren (Levi and Myla). His sister, Kathleen Shattuck, predeceased him.
