Raymond H. Connolly

Raymond "Ray" H. Connolly, 83, of Enterprise, died July 17 of natural causes at his home.

Services will begin at 11 a.m. Monday at Enterprise Christian Church. Bollman Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Raymond Lewis Richards was born Oct. 10, 1925, to Sylvia Francis Howell Richards and Walter Samuel Richards in Denver, Colo. He and his sister Alyce were placed in an orphanage in Denver when he was 3 and she was 5. They were adopted in 1933 by Mary Youngberg and Herbert Edward Connolly. At that time, he was renamed Raymond Herbert Connolly.

Ray's adoptive family eventually moved from Colorado to the Walla Walla area and from there to La Grande. He attended middle school and two years of high school at Riverside School where he and his sister were the only two students in the eighth grade. He entered his senior year at the age of 15.

He joined the U.S. Marine Corps on his 17th birthday. He was first stationed in Australia, then in New Guinea. He turned 18 on that island. After New Guinea, he was stationed at Cape Gloucester, Peleliu and Okanawa. He was prepared to return home at the time of the drop of the first atomic bomb but his orders were changed and he was sent to China. He remained on duty there until December 1945. He returned to San Diego where he was processed and discharged Jan. 2, 1946. He was paid $181.43 for travel money home, however, he hitchhiked and never spent a dime of money for travel.

Ray returned to the Portland area where he met Marvel Schaefer. They married June 8, 1947. They relocated to Enterprise where two children were born, Diana and Gary.

He was hired by Ira Snyder of Snyder Lumber Co. through a visit on the scales in front of the main office. He worked for Ira until Ira's retirement at which time he became manager of the company. At Ira's passing, he purchased the business from Ira's survivors and owned the business until 1989 at which time he sold it. Ray was highly respected as a business man and always appreciated as a true gentleman. Those who knew him say he was completely honest and had the highest standards of service for himself and his employees. For a number of years when his family was young, he supplemented their income by operating the projector at the OK Theatre as well as the drive-in theater.

He married Beverly Ulmer Rounsavell in Pendleton Aug. 24, 1968. They remained in their first home together until his death. In 1970, he adopted Jay William Rounsavell, 9, and Jeff Leon Rounsavell, 7.

Ray was a Jaycee, served on the PTA and was on the city council. He was a member of the Elks and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He loved to hunt and fish and was an avid reader. Ray did enjoy traveling but loved his home most of all.

Survivors include his wife, Beverly; daughter, Diana and her husband, Vernon Yoshioka, of Vancounver, Wash.; sons, Gary and his wife, Connie Connolly, of Hillsboro and Jay Connolly of Enterprise; sister, Alyce Guerassio of Enterprise; and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; son, Jeff; and brother, Jack Delbert Richards.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Enterprise Education District or the Soul Renovation Pay it Forward fund for the benefit of local people with emergency needs in care of Bollman's Funeral Home, 315 W. Main St. in Enterprise 97828.

.