Mr. Raymond George Hand

Raymond George Hand was born October 4th, 1927 in Los Angeles California to Anna Graf Hand and Raymond George Hand, both of Missouri. With the arrival of twin sisters, Joanne and Jeanne, and a younger brother Russell, Ray was the oldest of 4 children, and technically a Jr, though he never owned that moniker, being very much his own man. A proud first generation Californian, and the grandson of a pirate who'd immigrated to the US from Switzerland, there was a bit of the swashbuckler about him, which served him well throughout his rich and storied life. Nothing was beneath or beyond him. His understanding of hard work began during the great depression as he watched his beloved mother stretch their food and their home to welcome one family member after another fleeing Missouri for a better life and opportunities in the Golden State. These relatives filled the family home, some camping in their backyard, including his grandmother who claimed a tent as her preferred place on the "homestead". To make ends meet, his father opened their home to music students, using the children's bedrooms as classrooms during the day. The music school became known as the now historically recognized Institute of Musical Art, and helped sustain the family through tough, uncertain times. Following his parent's example, and never one to sit back and let life come to him, Ray ran off the Summer he was 15 to join a migrant camp picking fruit in Central California. He endured messy, back-breaking work and basic conditions and came away with an understanding of hard labor as well as the money to buy his first car. This kicked off a love affair that saw him nostalgically behind the wheel of several classic cars over the course of his life. A few years later, World War 2 began and as soon as he was old enough, and able, he enlisted. The tests administered by the army revealed an aptitude previously unbeknownst to the administration at Manual Arts High School who laughed when he asked them to have his transcripts sent to Stanford, where he was admitted to the Army Specialized Training Program. When the war ended, so too did Ray's time at Stanford, so he returned to Los Angeles and finished his education at UCLA. It was this education, an industriousness learned from his parents, as well as his swashbuckling spirit that served him well and propelled him through life, eventually landing him in a career suited to his many talents. As the head of contracts and pricing for Garrett Corporation (now part of Honeywell) he travelled the world, often to exotic locations, to negotiate with seasoned counterparts - many who started out adversaries only to become friends. His adventures and sometimes near-miss catastrophes became family legend and remarkably there was always a new, never-heard-before story to laugh about. When he wasn't at the negotiating table, he was likely on the golf course with friends, or at a horse ring with his daughters Linda and Laurie. Or on a boat -preferably with his much loved and adored son, Ed and a dog by their side. While marriage was a somewhat challenging thing for our true and beloved pirate, in Nancy Lynne, he found his soul mate, having wisely saved the best for last. Theirs was a beautiful and enduring love that spanned more than 30 wonderful years of adventures. Their marriage introduced Ray to daughter, Erin, with whom he shared a deep and lasting bond. This idyllic time was filled with family celebrations - Thanksgivings, Christmases, weddings and birthdays that knitted their families together. Ray cherished and was cherished by his extended family of sisters and brothers-in-law and nieces and nephews who felt him to be more than an uncle, but a steadfast father figure. In truth, he was everyone's rock, or, more accurately our ballast. His steadying force will be forever missed, and always remembered, and his stories will live on in all of us who loved him so dearly and learned so much from his perseverance and swashbuckling spirit, which never dimmed. While Ray enjoyed many travels with his adored and adoring wife Nancy, beloved daughter Erin, treasured son-in-law Jim and their daughter - Ray's dearly loved granddaughter - Georgia, in the end, his favorite place was home -with Nancy and his dogs, fishing off his dock, looking out at the beautiful lake, the sun reflected in the ripples on the water. "Best of all he loved the fall the leaves yellow on the cottonwoods leaves floating on the trout streams and above the hills the high blue windless skies...now he will be a part of them forever."

Mr. Raymond George Hand

October 4, 1927 - June 27, 2022