Raymond Lumry

Raymond Lumry, 101, of Dallas, Texas went peacefully to his Maker, February 14, 2018.

Born August 25, 1916 on the family farm near DeRidder, Louisiana. His parents were Harley Austin Lumry and Mary Elizabeth Seanor Lumry. He was the youngest of five sons. He graduated from DeRidder High School and from Louisiana State University with the degree Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. He was selected for membership in Omicron Delta Kappa, national leadership fraternity. He was a member of the ROTC at LSU and, during his senior year, commanded the Field Artillery unit of the Cadet Corps.

Upon graduation from LSU, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve and immediately went on active duty at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was subsequently commissioned in the Regular Army following nationwide competitive examinations. Additional pre-World War II service included duty at Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Jackson, South Carolina; Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Fort Polk, Louisiana; Camp Barkeley, Texas; armored warfare training in the California desert; and Camp Cooke, California.

His wartime service was during World War II in the European Theater of Operations in General Patton's Third Army. He commanded the 491st Armored Field Artillery Battalion, a unit of the 11th Armored Division, which liberated the Mauthausen concentration camp in May, 1945. Post-World War II service included attendance at the Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Town Major of Paris, France; Instructor at the Naval Gunfire Support School, Coronado, California; Field Artillery adviser to a Turkish Army division on the Thrace Peninsula west of Istanbul, Turkey; G-2 of U.S. Army Japan at Camp Zama, Japan; Assistant G-3, Military District of Washington, D.C.; and Secretary of the U.S. Army Artillery and Missile School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

In 1952, he established the ROTC unit at West Texas State University and served as Professor of Military Science and Tactics for more than four years. During his Army career, he earned the Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Medale de la Reconnaisance from the Government of France, the U.S. Army Certificate of Achievement, and the Army Commendation Medal. He attained the rank of Colonel in 1953.

He retired from the Army in 1964 and immediately enrolled as a graduate student at WTSU in Canyon, Texas, where he earned the first Master of Science degree awarded by the Chemistry Department. He served at WTSU as Instructor in Chemistry and Business Manager of the Killgore Research Center until his retirement from the University in 1979.

He later served as Manager of the Palo Duro Cooperative Retirement Village during its construction and initial occupancy and operation.

He was an active member of the Canyon First United Methodist Church for nearly forty-five years, and at various times served on its Administrative Board, Board of Trustees and Finance Committee, and was Lay Delegate to two Annual Conferences. He taught the Men's Fellowship Sunday School Class for more than twenty-five years and then became a member of the Crusader Sunday School Class. Community service activities included Meals on Wheels and Canyon Cares. After moving to Dallas in 2004, he joined Lovers Lane United Methodist Church and was an active member of the Agape Sunday School class.

He was a member of the Canyon Association of Retired Teachers and School Personnel and was a member of the Texas Retired Teachers Association. He was a long-time Rotarian and was a past-president of the Canyon Rotary Club. He was a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International.

In 1948, he married Evelyn Olive Bamson in San Diego, California.  They enjoyed traveling very much and over the years traveled in all fifty states and forty-five countries on six continents. His wife preceded him in death in 2004. He was also preceded in death by his parents and four brothers.

He is survived by his son, Dr. William R. Lumry and wife Rose of Dallas, Texas; his daughter, Sharon E. Lawler and husband Peter of Lexington, Massachusetts; three grandchildren: Ariel Lumry of Ramat HaSharon, Israel; Randall Lumry of Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Paige Lawler of St. Louis, Missouri; and one great grandson, Nadav Friedman of Ramat HaSharon.