Obituary for Raymond Edward “Ray” Thompson Raymond Edward Thompson March 15, 1932 – March 2, 2019 Ray was born in Washington DC. His death was brought on by a rapidly growing lung tumor that strained his heart. His last home in the metropolitan DC area was in McLean VA.
He retired from Potomac Electric Power Company in 1993 with 36 years of service in Substation Operations. While there he served as a steward with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Ray was the son of George Emory Thompson and Ruth Myrtle Haislup.
His birth mother died when he was an infant and his father remarried Marie Estelle Ryder, both of whom raised Ray. His parents, who predeceased him, lived in McLean also. In 1985 he purchased a small weekend cottage in the Northern Neck of Virginia, only four miles from the Bay by boat.
Then in retirement the cottage was expanded for full-time living. Ray loved the area where he already knew some of the watermen. It also offered wonderful opportunities for outdoor activities.
Ray served for several years as President of the Atlantic Diving Council, through which he met his wife. Weekends were frequently spent diving together around the World War II (moth ball target practice) ship wrecks in the center of the Bay and along the rock piles of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel, both of which offered delicious spear fishing opportunities. Ray was an avid saltwater fisherman.
One his favorite fishing places was off shore in Hatteras, NC. He enjoyed black powder deer hunting as well. He even built a deer stand in the woods on his own property.
Ray was a world traveler, visiting nearly 50 countries on six continents. Such travels included many methods of transportation including 3 weeks on a catamaran in Papua New Guinea, a helicopter ride to the Great Barrier Reef, hot air ballooning in Kenya, trains such as the Orient Express and the Blue Train in South Africa, puffer bellies in New Mexico, snow ski planes on the Tasman Glacier (NZ) and water ski planes in Misty Fjords Alaska, plus flying the Concorde to London. He leaves behind a long bucket list of places he wanted to visit.
When first married Ray was strictly a meat and potatoes man. Slowly his curiosity about other foods increased. His favorite foods were seafood and French cuisine, but he was willing to go to any restaurant with a good chef.
This led to many delicious meals and unique eating experiences such as haggis and springbok in the course of his travels. Ray loved to read. His home library contains several thousand books on the Civil War, world history and travel, early adventurers, big game animals and more lately the Mongols.
A recent favorite was Will and Ariel Durant’s eleven volume work The Story of Civilization”, that he read twice. His favorite author was Rudyard Kipling, several of whose poems were committed to memory. On one trip to England Ray and his wife visited Bateman, Kipling’s home.
Ray belonged to Foundry Methodist Church in DC. He leaves behind his wife of 44 years Alice Roxana better known as “Ann” and a younger brother Frank in Spring Hill, FL. Another younger brother Ronald from Fairfax, VA died in 2017.
Ray’s burial was in Oakwood Illinois along with other members of his wife’s family. To send flowers to the family of Raymond Edward “Ray” Thompson, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.
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