Raymond LaPointe Obituary

MAJ. RAYMOND LAPOINTE U.S. Army, Retired Raymond R. LaPointe, 89, a long-time resident of Las Vegas, passed away peacefully at home, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011. He was a 20-year U.S. Army veteran, retiring after distinguished national service with the rank of major in 1962. Upon retiring from the military, he served in managerial positions at REECO, the Landmark Hotel and Hughes Aviation Services, where he retired in 1987. He served on the boards of the Southern Nevada Sierra Club, Clark County Red Cross, Southern Nevada Retired Officers Club, Catholic Youth Organization and the Boy Scouts of America. He was preceded in death by his parents, Napoleon and Ella; brother, Robert; and sister, Mildred. He is survived by his loving wife, of 57 years, Lorna; his sister, Dorothy; sister-in-law, Dolly; his four children, Sandra Cambeiro (Domingo), Michael LaPointe (Terri), Suzanne Anderson (Rob), and Kathy Helbert (Bruce). He was a loving grandfather to Anthony, Stephen, Brittney, David, Nicole, Eric, Bradley, Kristi, Scott, Maria and Dominic; and 11 wonderful great-grandchildren. We will all miss his wonderful stories and sense of humor. He leaves us with loving memories and a strong sense of family to carry forward. Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23, at Palm Mortuary, 7600 S. Eastern Ave. Funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Monday, Oct. 24, at Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic Church, 3050 Alta Drive. Burial will follow at 1:20 p.m. at Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 1900 Buchanan Blvd. in Boulder City. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Father Thomas Maikowski, Diocese of Gallup, P.O. Box 1028, Gallup, NM 87305.

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Published by Las Vegas Review-Journal from Oct. 20 to Oct. 23, 2011.

Memories and Condolences
for Raymond LaPointe

12 Entries

Bob & Darian Stroup

December 28, 2011

To the Lapointe family, Ray was a mentor of mine, and an awesome individual!! He was a very positive person. I was a cubscout in Ray's troop in '68. Two events he had me in still today are highpoints of my childhood days!! He pushed me to enter the pinewood derby knowing my dads mechanical skills, and I won!! I still have the two trophies the car took. Then in that same summer on a 6 or so mile hike out in Tule Springs Park area for a merit badge, I found a smooth rock shaped like a dinosaur egg down in a wash about 5 feet deep. Ray chuckled at the time and said it looked alot like a dinosaur egg too! Ray being the kind hearted guy he always was offered to come back with the car and pick the rock up after watching me carry it for an hour or so. But I declined, being afraid I wouldn't be able to find it on our return.. This little 8 pound, 8 inch long rock resided in my moms rock garden for about 40 years until I took it to a local doctor who was kind enough to X-ray it for me. And much to the doctors suprise, it had a small dark area with a white ping-pong ball center which was the embryo. It was the real deal!! I wasn't thinking of selling it to start with, but with the loss of this childhhood mentor of mine it's all the more special to me!! I had the honor of visiting Ray a few times along with his lovely wife Lorna in the past year, and he got quite a kick out of the fact that the little rock I carried all over the desert with him that day was real. When I brought it over to show him 40 years later, Lorna said to me as I entered the home, thats an egg!! Even before telling her what it was!! Ray will be deeply missed by me!! It wasn't even all his accomplishments in life that made him so specail to me, but the kindness and respect he gave to all of those lucky enough to have crossed his path in life!!!! He will forever live in my heart and memories always... Thanks for taking the time to teach and guide us while you were here Ray, your friendship will last forever!..... Bob & Darian Stroup

David, Jean, Dylan and Austin LaPointe

October 27, 2011

Aunt Lorna, Cousins, Spouses and Grandchildren,
We are so sorry to be writing to you after too many years on your/our loss of Uncle Ray. We've lost the family patriarch, our alpha lion with his great silvery mane...a great man who lived the fullest of lives, saw war, retired in peace and got to watch his family grow and help raise their own. Who could ask for more?
The story from Uncle Ray for which I'm most grateful is the one regarding our family name...not LaPointe as we've all been signing all these years, but Oudette! As in, according to the story told by Uncle Ray to my brother, Les Oudettes a la pointe...the Oudettes who reportedly ran a store (probably a diner...) on a point in the river. True or not, I love this story and tell it often. It's the kind of family history that unless shared, gets lost at times like this.
We're really grateful for having it passed down to us.
I have other stories but I wish there were a hundred more. Our family always loved our west coast clan and while we've spent too little time together, we have had our times.
This is an insufficient eulogy for a great man, but it should mark, at least in a small way, how much we loved and respected Uncle Ray. He'll be sorely missed. David, Jean and boys

Ed and Kathy Rogich

October 26, 2011

Kathy, Suzanne & Family

We are deeply saddened by the news of your loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Darryl and Chelsea Layne

October 23, 2011

In loving memory, forever and always.

Dr & Mrs Lawrence Kelly

October 23, 2011

Lorna and family. Dr Kelly and I would like to let you know how saddened we are to know that your husband and father has passed away. Please know that our heart and prayers are with you.
Dr Lawrence and Diane Kelly

Gary & Susan LaPointe

October 23, 2011

Even as a kid, I always enjoyed it when Uncle Ray would venture back East to visit, an envoy from the vast and exotic far West come to us way up there in little New Hampshire. It was many years before Susan and I and our son Tim finally had the opportunity to go to Las Vegas to visit him and Aunt Lorna--always our favorite Montana cowgirl. It would be impossible to overstate how accommodating they and our cousins and their families were, and how welcome they made us feel while there. Each day, while the women were off gambling in the casinos, Uncle Ray and I would drive around town, watch the Red Sox in the sports-betting bars, and talk. Mostly I'd get him to talk: about France and the army and his family, but chiefly about Old Times in the Granite Square. It was really something to hear him relate--in a voice that both was and wasn't my father's, but sometimes with a very different viewpoint--stories I'd been hearing at home for years. I especially remember his saying once, "Yes, Bobby and I almost got in trouble that time!" I'd never heard anyone call my father Bobby before! He showed me photos too--notably of my two great-grandfathers, August and Louis, and of my grandparents Rosaire and Ella, pictures I'd never seen--and told me stories about them that, with his deft command of artful details, transformed distant family ghosts into flesh-and-blood people who still live in some ways in all of our clan. Uncle Ray also produced for me a stunning photo of his father, a disarmingly young man in WWI uniform, a copy of which now graces my mantle at home. And each night, after Uncle Ray had gone to bed, I would scribble furiously on a yellow legal pad every word I could remember of what he'd thought to tell me that evening.
Because of distance, I was never able to know Uncle Ray as I would have liked to know him, yet I have rarely enjoyed anything more than those days and evenings spent with him a few years back, not only for what I found out from him about our family but also for what I was able to learn about Uncle Ray himself, what a fine and decent man he was. I regret that I won't get that chance again.
Speaking for Susan and myself and our children Tim, Pat, and Kate, our condolences to everyone who knew and loved Uncle Ray, especially those who knew him best and loved him most.

October 23, 2011

Having traveled West with Bob to Vegas many times over the years, we were always welcomed by Ray and Lorna, as were all of our children who visited. We had some really great times together doing the town or just sitting around. I remember Bob and Ray sitting together reliving their shared past and laughing about their adventures and misadventures together. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to relive some of that by listening to their stories. I love them both and I will really miss hearing Ray laugh and his regular calls to me to check on how I was doing.

Love, Dolly

October 23, 2011

Please accept our sincere condolences on your loss.
Les and Peggy Oxborrow

October 22, 2011

When my oldest son Bobby and I arrived in Las Vegas on a cross-county adventure moving my brother David's furniture from San Fran to NYC, Uncle Ray couldn't believe the size of the truck, the trailer and the attached Volvo we were dragging across the plains and right into his driveway. Boy did he laugh. And then, always the gracious host, he drove us all around town (including two train hobby shops of course and the Hoover Dam). He took us out to breakfast, lunch and dinner. When we tried to pay for anything he said that he "was saving us for the big one". He (and all of you western Lapointes) made Celeste, Corinne and I feel welcomed each time we visited. Best of all he told us about all of the interesting characters in the Granite Square days, just like my dad. In so many ways he reminded me of my dad. Both had very strong personalities, with a love of God, family, country and tradition. My dad would tell me stories about how he and Ray had to sleep in the attic at Blaine Street when they were kids, only to wake up with frost on their faces in the winter time. Well they are together again, with our lives much richer for having known them. We will surely miss him.

Bob Jr., Celeste and Corinne (Corey)

October 21, 2011

I am sorry for the loss of your love one. May the God of all comfort give you peace.

manuel quiroz

October 21, 2011

good man i hope god would keep him forever

October 21, 2011

Uncle Ray was a wonderful uncle who always made me laugh. He looked a lot like my father. He made us feel welcome when we came to visit. His warm hospitality will be remembered forever. I am glad that I got the chance to visit with him this past Spring and hope that the family knows how much Uncle Ray has meant to me. I will be praying for all of you. I will remember the good times and share the stories of our visits. Love, Brenda

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