Raymond D. Wagner

Raymond David Wagner of Denver, Colorado peacefully passed away on April 13, 2015 at Assured Assisted Living in Castle Rock, Colorado. He was 101 years old. Raymond was born on October 3, 1913 in Lamar, Colorado. He grew up in Lamar with his loving parents and adventurous cousins, whom he considered to be brothers. As a boy he had boundless energy and curiosity. He loved to take items apart and put them back together again, just to see how they were made...a trait he never out grew. Raymond graduated from Lamar High School in 1932 with aspirations to become an engineer. He attended Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado. Unfortunately, the Great Depression was deepening at that time, and Ray had to drop out of school due to lack of money to pay for tuition. This was to the dismay of his favorite professor, who begged him to return, but it was not to be. So Raymond resorted to various kinds of work to make a living. One job involved working in the machine shop at John Martin Reservoir. Around this same time he was receiving treatments at Dr. Likes Clinic. There at the clinic was a gorgeous nurse, Joy Mayoria Hallmark. Raymond could not resist asking her for a date. One thing led to another and soon they where whisking away to Raton, New Mexico to get married at the local Methodist Church. During the Depression jobs were scarce and hard to come by. So after the dam was built, and he was out of a job, he took his bride to Denver, Colorado with $25 in his pocket. WWII was going on at the time and Raymond supported the war effort by working on bombers at Buckley Field. After the war he found work at Hamilton Watch Company. Later he got a job working in the machine shop at Hathaway Instruments, then Densco Dental Supply, which eventually became Teledyne. Along the way he was trained to be a Tool and Die Maker. He became very skilled at the trade and invented new tools for making dentistry more efficient. He loved his work and worked at this trade until he was 90 years old! While Raymond was working hard at his trade, Joy was busy raising three daughters in their South Denver home. He looked forward to going home to three young girls greeting him with hugs at the front door. He was always on hand to help with math homework, or to help his girls make a difficult decision. With a beautiful, industrious wife and three daughters life was full indeed for Ray. Over the years Ray enjoyed many interests. He loved to fish and camp. He always saved one fish from the catch for the family cat, Illif. Perhaps that is why she was always waiting by the garage door when the family got home from a fishing trip! He also loved to barbecue steaks and hamburgers for backyard picnics, but he left the frying of the fish to Joy. Ray also loved airplanes. Many a Saturday or Sunday afternoon were spent at Stapleton Airport watching the planes land and take off. Saturday mornings were sometimes spent going to the model airplane events, and if there was an Air show in town, Raymond and family went! Another interest Raymond had was photography. He learned how to take good pictures--he had an artistic eye. Then he decided he wanted to develop his own pictures. You guessed it! He built his own developer, and started out developing his pictures in the kitchen. Joy had to cover the kitchen windows and doorways with blankets to block out all light. No one could go in or out of the kitchen. Finally the family could enter to see the finished pictures hanging on a line Ray had rigged up. Later on he moved his developer out to the garage. The family cook was surely pleased about that! Later Raymond would have his own shop built in the backyard. It became his man cave! He loved to build things and spent many hours in his home shop puttering or making something using his lathe. He was interested in almost every subject, and sought to learn by reading, reading, and reading some more! He read about historical events, airplanes, interesting people, technical scientific articles, mechanical manuals. He loved the world and all that is in it! Raymond loved to eat. Joy was a excellent cook and Ray loved to eat her glorious creations! She catered to his tastes. He ate her meals heartily, and always had to have bread with his meal and dessert, which usually had ice cream on top. Then every night before going to bed, he would sit in the kitchen with the lights out and have another bowl of ice cream! Raymond was a man of good character. He was honest. He was trustworthy. He was a good friend. He would do anything to help someone in need. He was well loved by all who knew him. He was a loving father to his three girls, and was devoted to his wife of 72 years. He always supported her interests and encouraged her to follow them. He went with her to Button Club events, and was always a good sport about it! Raymond is survived by his wife of 72 years, Joy M. Wagner and three daughters; Joyce Bistline (Robert), Elizabeth Abbott, and Linda Frederick (Doug). There are also four grandchildren and five great grandchildren.. He was preceded in death by his parents, David H. Wagner and Nettie I. Wagner and numerous cousins. A Celebration of Life will take place at the Horan & McConaty Family Chapel, 11150 East Dartmouth Avenue in Aurora, on Saturday, April 18, 2015. There will be a viewing from 10am - 11:00am with the Memorial Service to follow at 11am. The Reception will immediately follow the service. Please share your memories of Raymond and condolences with his family by signing the guestbook below.