Raymond Huecker

Raymond Anthony Huecker was born in Chicago Illinois November 24, 1930 to Sarafina and Raymond E. Huecker. He departed this life on to Eternal Life on February 24, 2025 at the age of 94.

When he was a child his family moved to Port Arthur, Texas where his father was with the Merchant Marines, First Mate aboard the SS Rawleigh Warner. In June 1942 the ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat in the Gulf of Mexico. All hands were lost, casualties of WWII. After that, his mother who was born in Hawaii, returned to the Islands with Ray, his sister Rita and brother Wally.

Ray was raised in Hawaii with his mother and stepfather, Mike Benko and six siblings, Rita, Wally, Carol, Mickey, Gordon and Greg. He truly enjoyed everything about the Hawaiian culture and passed that on to his family.

In high school Ray joined the Hawaii Marine Reserves. Shortly after he graduated in 1949, the Korean War broke out and he was called to duty. There was no time for Boot Camp, he spent his 20th birthday in Korea. He survived the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, one of the coldest and most brutal battles of the war. He was wounded and earned a Purple Heart. He served four years in the Marines, was a member of the "Chosin Few" and always, a proud US Marine.

In 1956 he was accepted at Oklahoma State University, college of Fire Protection where he met Sylvia Rae Gurney. They married May 24, 1957. While at OSU he earned an Associate Degree in Fire Protection and a Bachelor's Degree in Business. He also continued his body building routine and won the titles of Mr. Oklahoma and Mr. Texas.

Ray and Syl were married sixty-seven years and nine months. In 1972 they settled down in Simi Valley, CA to raise their four children. They have ten grandchildren and one great-grandson. They were very involved in the Boots and Slippers square dance club where they met many of their longtime friends. Ray enjoyed making people laugh, teasing and entertaining his kids, his nieces and nephews and their friends by "blowing up his bicep" or "taking off his thumb".

Ray was preceded in death by his mother, Sarafina Benko, his father Raymond E. Huecker, his stepfather Mike Benko, his sisters Rita Murray and Carol Palmer and his brother Wallace Huecker. He is survived by his wife Sylvia, his children John, Ginger (Bob), David (Andrea) and Steven (Julia). Ten grandchildren, Jack Wolf, Jamie Townson, Marissa and Anthony Huecker, Gus and Rawleigh Balkcom, Cody, Casey, Courtney and Caleb Huecker and great-grandson Levi Townson.

Interment will be at Bakersfield National Cemetery in Arvin CA on Friday May 16, 2025 at 10:45 am.

There will be a Celebration of Life on Saturday, May 17, 2025, 11am to 3pm.

The Oak Tree Country Club, 29500 N Lower Valley Rd, Tehachapi CA 93561.