John J. Raymond Sr.

Family-Placed Obituary

JOHN J. RAYMOND, Sr. Passed away on April 23, 2008 after a brief illness. He was born in Belfast, New York on July 17, 1912, the eighth and youngest son of James and Clara Raymond, immigrants to the U.S. from their native Italy. A young athlete, afflicted with polio, he turned his competitive efforts from athletics to academics. He attended St. Ignatius Loyola high school in Cleveland, Ohio, and was awarded class honors. In 1930 he was a commencement speaker at The Collinwood High School graduation, Cleveland, Ohio. After attending MIT and studying chemical engineering, he received a scholarship to the University of Southern California in Business Administration and was an award winning inter-collegiate debater. He received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1934 and was offered a scholarship to attend Babson College in Boston, Massachusetts to obtain his MBA in Finance. Rather than travel to Boston, he attended Western Reserve Law School in Cleveland, Ohio and passed the Ohio Bar in 1937. From 1937 to 1942 he was a U.S. Treasury bank examiner in estates and trusts. Thereafter he worked for the Price-Waterhouse CPA firm in Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit. In 1944, after WWII he founded his own firm, specializing in federal income tax law. His firm, Raymond and Prokop, today part of the national law firm, Butzel Long, became renowned for its defense of U.S. income tax cases. He married Catherine Murray of Oak Park, Illinois on June 24, 1942. They raised six children in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. In 1978 he and his wife moved to Palm Beach, Florida where he continued to practice tax and estate planning law until his retirement in 2005. His wife, Catherine, predeceased him on May 18, 1982, and he thereafter married Rosemary Hildebrand, a longtime family friend. In addition to his over 50 years of legal practice in Ohio, Michigan and Florida, he was active in numerous organizations and served as President and Chairman of the National Catholic Retreat Conference, St. Vincent dePaul Society, and the PIME Missionary Board of Trustees. He is survived by his six children, John J. Raymond, Jr. (Joyce McCarriston) and Cecilia Raymond of West Palm Beach, Katie Hoggard of Beverly, MA, Stephen M. Raymond (Stephanie) of Ormond Beach, FL, Mark F. Raymond (Arlys) of Miami, FL, and Suzy O'Connor (John) of Richmond, VA, 15 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. The viewing will be held at the Babione Funeral Home, 1100 Federal Highway, Boca Raton, Florida on Friday (TODAY), April 25 from 6-8 PM. A funeral Mass will be offered at 11:00 AM at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Lantana, Florida on Saturday, April 26. Entombment will be held at Queen Of Heaven Catholic Cemetery on Saturday, 12:30 PM. To express condolences and/or make donations Visit PalmBeachPost.com/obituaries