Donald Lee Ravey

Donald Lee Ravey died peacefully on August 22, 2014 at the Palo Alto Veteran's Administration Hospice, after 85 wonderful years of life. His last 8 months were spent living thoughtfully through lung cancer. Donald is survived by his cousin and best friend, David J. Hyams, cousin Betty Jo Fekke, nieces Aisy McCallum, Pam Lewis and Diane Duncan, nephew Tom Ravey, second cousins David, Jean, and Amy Hyams, and friends around the world. His autobiographical website remains active at www.ravey.net. Following graduation from San Diego High School, Don obtained his B..S. from San Diego State College and later went to the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his M.S. He served in the US Navy as a specialist in communications in San Diego, Guam, and the Bering Sea, achieving the rank of Lieutenant. He later served six years in the US Naval Reserve. Don was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in 1950 at the age of 21. Don was a ham radio operator (callsign W6DBZ) since 1947, an avid theatre organist, a reader of history and philosophy, a lover of jokes, sometimes goofy ones. A career engineer, he was passionate about electronics of all kinds, building his own computers in the 1980's from spare electronics parts found at the old DeAnza Ham Radio Flea Market. Whether via ham radio, letters, email or in person, he shared his kind spirit and wisdom with friends across the globe. Don attended regular meetings of groups devoted to his interests, mainly the Nor-Cal Theatre Organ Society, the Friends of George, Linux Users Group, and Microsoft Access Users Group. He was a founding member and first president of the Lambda Amateur Radio Club, which provided communications support for the AIDS Bike-A-Thon in the 1980's. After retirement from Unisys in 1989 he taught computers at the College of San Mateo and, in 1995, was honored by JobTrain in Menlo Park for his volunteer work. Hidden Villa in Los Altos Hills honored him in 2009 for lending his website skills to help grow the organization. To everything he did, Donald brought his curiosity and desire to understand the world. But it was his loyal friendship, keen intellect, and humor that will leave the biggest gaps; we will miss him deeply. Contributions in Donald's honor may be made to the liberal cause of your choosing.