Raymond (Ray) Smith passed away peacefully on March 26, 2022 at Jacob's Ladder End-of-Life Legacy home in Springfield, Missouri at the age of 91 following a short illness.  He was born in Yorkshire, England on November 30, 1930 to Arthur and Sarah Smith, the third of five children.  He was preceded in death by his elder sister, Mary and older brother, Joseph (Joe) and is survived by his younger siblings, Nancy Deakin and Colin Smith (both living in England).

Ray worked in an engineering company with his father but at the age of 20, joined the Royal Navy where he trained as a ship's electrician on a destroyer.  He later helped rescue downed pilots after they ejected into the freezing waters off the coast of Korea, having only two minutes to complete the mission to prevent the pilots from freezing to death.

Ray loved swimming and won the Yorkshire Amateur Swimming Association certificate in 1948 while still in school.  He kept playing water polo during his naval career for his ship's team.  After his naval service, he was employed by an engineering company as their buyer and in 1957 he met his wife, Rita June Nelson.  It was love at first sight for both, and they married on March 24, 1958, spending 64 happy years together until his death.

Ray wanted to travel and decided to try emigrating, contemplating Australia and Canada but decided against both, applying to the American Embassy in London for emigration visas for the couple in order to come to America.  They boarded the SS United States ocean liner in Liverpool and six days later were greeted by the wonderful sight of "The Lady with the Lamp", the Statue of Liberty.  Starting life in America wasn't easy since they could not rent an apartment without a job and likewise could not get a job without a permanent address.  They persevered and eventually were able to secure jobs.  During their three years in New York, Ray read the Sunday paper and noticed columns of job postings for "computer programmers".  He decided to go to school to train and attended classes at night and on weekends to learn computer programming.  The couple moved to San Francisco near Silicon Valley and became citizens while living there.  Ray was employed as a programmer/systems analyst until his retirement in 1990.

The couple moved to Missouri following retirement after visiting friends from San Francisco who had retired there to be near family.  They liked Springfield because it reminded them of Yorkshire with similar limestone caverns, hilly terrain, and its friendly people.

Ray loved to travel and took June on wonderful worldwide trips to Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica, South Africa, Rome, Belgium, France, Spain, and South Africa.  The couple also visited many locations throughout the United States.

In Springfield, Ray swam at the Meyer Center until his COPD prevented him from continuing.  He continued his weekly weight lifting and attended Thai Chi classes there until COVID.

Ray will be missed by those who knew and loved him.  Following cremation, a memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 in Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home located at 1947 East Seminole in Springfield Missouri.

Ray's Memorial Service was recorded and can be viewed here .