| About |
Ray died of cancer in November, 1994 at the age of fifty (50). He is survived by his wife, Judy, and their two children. Ray was raised south of Alta in a district known as Hanover. Ray attended Alta High School starting in 9th grade along with several others from Hanover and also, the Fairview district, neither of which had a high school, but rather only school up to the 8th grade. However, I knew him from his father who sold seed corn and always set up a booth each year at the Buena Vista County Fair. My dad, who was the fair secretary, always gave me jobs to do, and I always had to check on the booths. I got to know everyone associated with the fair. Ray was a very talented individual who always was up on the latest trends. He was particularly interested in electronics and after graduation, he entered the US Air Force serving in the Philippines and Vietnam, I believe. After his tour of duty, he returned to Alta working at Melander's Appliance Store fixing TV's and anything electronic until his death in 1994. Ray was a core member of our group of mischief- makers who fought boredom in high school by solving the world's problems and discovering the meaning of life, almost every night in our later high school years. One summer day, Ray, Tom Wall, Mike Johnston and I tried to blow up a tree with some of my chemicals (sulfur, aluminum powder and potassium chlorate, WOW - it was really a dumb thing to do and I should have known better (I am a chemistry professor now)). Ray and I were injured, but we survived with some scars. Ray had a big Buick (1950) that had an early form of positraction which was really good on ice in the winter. He was very proud of that car that may have had the biggest back seat of any car that I can remember (Sundberg had a 1949 Pontiac that was very close to the Buick in size). Twice a year until my mother's passing in 1989, Ray and I would spend at least one evening together on my visits home to Alta, drinking a few cold ones, playing 8-ball or fooling around on his latest state-of-the-art CB radio rigs. Ray loved to fish and hunt, and he shared these activities with many of our class members. Everyone went see Ray when they returned to Alta for a visit. His wonderful family notwithstanding, I think that it was Tom Wall who said it best, "Ray gave a lot more to life than he got back". He had a very dry sense of humor and was always smiling. One of my fondest memories of Ray's humoe occurred in our local mayor's (Doc Burger) office where we all were responding to a summons from the town marshal, Eldon Sundberg (Gary's brother) for allegedly setting off illegal fireworks and tipping over garbage cans. Ray had an ankle or foot injury that was healing up, and he couldn't run away from Eldon. Eldon found him hiding in the bushes while the fireworks were exploding. At our court hearing, the mayor asked us all to plead to the charges of disturbing the peace beginning with Ray. Ray said, "Well Your Honor, Eldon caught me in the bushes because I couldn't run away. I plead, NOT GUILTY!" After a pause, everyone burst out laughing including the mayor, case dismissed. Ray was a really good friend of mine in high school along with Gary Sundberg, Gary Faust, Don Meyer and Dave Warren among others who all managed to do something very productive with their lives. I have always been proud to call Ray Hinkeldey my friend and I miss him along with Gary Faust who passed this year (2014). My best wishes go to Ray's family. |
