May 9, 2008

Raymond Ransom Kelley

     Raymond Ransom Kelley, 89, died in his sleep on Feb. 24, 2008.
     He was born March 13, 1918, in Hoquiam, Wash., to Charles and Sarah Kelley, the youngest of eight children. He attended high school in Mosier, then returned to Hoquiam to work for Rainier Lumber company.
     He married Caroline Norberg on March 18, 1937.
     He entered the U.S. Air Force during World War II, gained his GED and became an officer. He also became a cadet and attended flight training school.      At the end of the war, he was discharged.
     In 1946, he and his wife and son Charles Ray (Chuck) moved to The Dalles, where he worked as an appliance salesman and apartment manager. In 1947, their second son, Robert Lee (Bob) was born.
     In the early 1950s, he began a career that would span the next 30 years as a brakeman with Union Pacific. Several of those years he also served the union as a shop steward.
     The family moved to Portland during the early 1960s, where he worked at the Portland switching yard. In the 1970s, their Portland home was swallowed up by Interstate 205 and Ray and Caroline decided that they would build their planned retirement home on property they owned in Sisters. He worked at times out of nearby Redmond and at times back at the switching yards in Portland, or on rail trips from Portland to The Dalles. When he completed his 30 years, he retired and joined his wife full-time in Sisters.
     He and his wife became active with the Railroad Old Timers Club and traveled to several locations, by train, of course. They enjoyed their dogs and also had horses. He acquired a boat and they bought a boathouse at The Dalles Yacht Club, where they spend many weekends. They were also active in the local Sisters community and were honored as grand marshals of the Sisters Rodeo.
His wife died on March 2, 1995. In July of that same year, he lost his youngest son, Bob.
     Survivors include his son, Chuck, Roseville, Calif.; his grandchildren, Kathy and husband Billy Brockway, Los Angeles; Sean Kelley and wife Lesley, Roseville; Kacy Kelley and Husband Kyle Heckey, Sacramento; Ryan Kelley, Portland; Shannon Kelley, Orangevale, Calif.; and Devon Kelley, Portland; eight great-grandchildren; and two daughters-in-law, Terry Kelley, Orangevale; and Tami (Kelley) Lewis and husband Gene, Portland.
     In 1996, he sold his home in Sisters and moved to the Sacramento, Calif., area to be close to his son’s family.
     He was a storyteller and entertained the family with tales of his life adventures.