Raymond Cahen

CAHEN, Raymond Winston, 66, of Richmond and Montpelier, died Tuesday, April 13, 2010, after a long and courageous battle with complications from a traumatic pancreatic injury in 2003. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Susan Stevenson Cahen; his daughters, Tamara O'Toole and her husband, Jamie, Tanya Stevens, her husband, Matthew, and their children, Jake, Reagan, and Julianna; as well as many extended family members and devoted friends and neighbors. He was preceded in death by his parents, Andrew Vassayaire and Mabel Hayden Cahen of Richmond. After graduation from Thomas Jefferson High School, Ray served four years in the U.S. Navy as a photographer aboard the aircraft carrier USS America. Ray graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University and was a master photographer. He retired from Philip Morris USA as their audio visual director after 30 years of service. In addition to his photography career, Ray was well known across the Commonwealth and beyond as a political activist. His passion was gun rights and protection of Second Amendment Rights for which he served many years on the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association. As an advocate of the rights of citizens to bear arms and to pursue hunting and shooting sports, he tirelessly lead volunteer efforts for political campaigns and lobbied the State legislature under the auspices of the Virginia Shooting Sports Assoc. of Va. and other grassroots organizations, including the Virginia Outdoor Sports Information Network, which he founded. He was a member of the Virginia Wildlife Federation and served on the Board of Conservation and Recreation under Governors Allen and Gilmore. Despite being infirmed by his injuries for nearly 7 years, Ray continued to rally to follow bills in the General Assembly and to inform sportsmen of threats to their advocacies. The family will receive friends at Bliley's-Staples Mill, 8510 Staples Mill Road, on Thursday, April 15, from 6 to 9 p.m. Funeral services will be held at Three Chopt Presbyterian Church, 9315 Three Chopt Road, on Friday, April 16, at 11 a.m., with interment at Greenwood Memorial Gardens, 12609 Patterson Ave. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to support the VCU Trauma Center in care of the MCV Foundation, P.O. Box 980234, Richmond, Va. 23298-0234, Neurofibromatosis by mail, NF Mid-Atlantic 3600 Clipper Mill Rd., Suite 240, Baltimore, Md. 21211, or via their website: www.nfmidatlantic.org, or the Richmond SPCA, as Ray was a lover of all animals.


This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.