Deceased July 12, 2021
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In Memory
Ray Jones died on July 12, at his home in Bend, Ore., after a brief illness. He joined our Zoom 70th reunion gathering last May and was in good spirits then.
He is probably best remembered from Amherst days for singing in Glee Club and Choir. He recorded in our 50th reunion book that his lifelong affiliation with singing groups resulted from “learning the mind-cleansing virtue of vocalizing with the Glee Club. … Singing uses both sides of the brain, as well as the body, and it is impossible to sing and worry at the same time.”
Upon graduation, Ray joined the U.S. Navy and, during the Korean War, served aboard the USS Seminole, an amphibious cargo ship operating in combat areas. He left the Navy in 1955; married Laurie Oberg; settled down in Berkeley, Calif.; started his family; and became part owner and manager of Gillick Printing until he retired in 1985. Private consulting followed until 1990 or so, when Ray and Laurie sold their Berkeley home and moved to Bend. They proceeded to travel worldwide, were locally active (Ray was a Rotary member for more than 55 years, starting at Berkeley, until he died) and enjoyed life to the fullest until Laurie died in 2002. Thereafter, Ray continued his barbershop singing, being a charter member of the Central Oregon chapter of the High Desert Harmoneers, founded in 1991. He was a 50-plus-year member of the Barbershop Harmony Society, having joined in 1958. He wrote and produced a number of barbershop chapter shows and was a member of six registered quartets traveling all over Oregon, parts of Washington State and even Vancouver, B.C., performing concerts and participating in barbershop competitions.
He is survived by three children, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Ray was an outstanding plus for his community.
Everett E. Clark ’51, with very helpful input from Katharine Dalton, Ray’s daughter