RAYMOND W. DILLARD (1925-2020)

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V23 2020 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 23, Number 11, March 15, 2020, Article 7

Another U.S. hobby stalwart has passed - elongated cent man Ray Dillard "caught the westbound". Pete Smith passed along a link to his obituary. Ralph Winter and Sandy Pearl passed along a link to his death notice. -Editor

Ray was born on a farm outside of Parma, Missouri July 3, 1925. The son of the late James Monroe Dillard and Sadie Lee (Corlew) Dillard. He was the 10th of 11 children in the family. The family moved to Flint for the first time in 1929 when he was 3 years old after the family lost the farm in the stock market crash. The family moved back and forth between Flint and Parma depending on the availability of work. He lived 16 different locations in Flint. The family moved so often that he spent 2 and one half years in the first grade. He would say that he remembered asking his mother if she thought that I would ever get out of the first grade.

Thanks to summer school he finished high school in 2 1/2 years. He graduated from Central High School, Class of 1943 with his original class. He later attended General Motors Institute and IBM for special courses. Summer school was also where he met his future wife, Elizabeth (Betty) Stirling. They married at age 19 although Ray was only 18 on the marriage certificate, a fact that enjoyed teasing her about for their entire married life. He was a devoted and loving husband to Betty through many years of illness. Betty died on December 13, 2006 after they were married for 62 1/2 years, which was longer than anyone else in the family.

In September 1943, after Ray was rejected for military service, he was hired as office boy at Chevrolet Manufacturing. Following a series of promotions, he was transferred to Chevrolet Central Office and later to General Motors Central Office. Ray retired as Cost Control Administrator (equivalent to Superintendent.) He was responsible for developing the universal coding for all General Motors parts across the various divisions, saving the company millions of dollars. Ray retired after 37 years of service in 1980. Ray was active in the Masonic Order and was a member of many Numismatic Organizations and has attended Numismatic Conventions in every corner of the United States making many, many friends all over the world. Ray kept busy designing and rolling elongated coins for keepsakes and for celebration favors. He even rolled coins for the Australian Olympics in 2000.

To read the complete articles, see:
Raymond W. Dillard (https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/raymond-dillard-obituary?pid=195640223)
Raymond W. Dillard (https://www.swartzfuneralhomeinc.com/obituary/raymond-dillard)

"Here is a shot of Ray at this year's FUN. Picture by Cindy Calhoun. Possibly the last "official" photo taken of him doing what he loved best."

A coin show wasn't a coin show for me without saying hello to Ray Dillard. He set up year after years at the PAN shows in Pittsburgh, as well as ANA and other shows. He was already ready with a smile. He will be sorely missed by all. -Editor

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