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Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Sunday, April 17, 2016 from 2-6 PM.
Funeral Services will be held at 8:30 AM on Monday, April 18 from the funeral home, then to St. Mary’s RC Church, Pompton Lakes, where at 9:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered. Burial will follow at St. Joseph’s Cemetery Hackensack.
Raymond McNamee, age 84 of Pompton Lakes, died peacefully on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. “Poppa” was a dedicated husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend to many.
Ray grew up in the Greenville section of Jersey City and moved to Ridgefield Park as a young teenager. He graduated from Ridgefield Park High School with the class of 1950 where he had also played football. He joined the Marine Corps and served for three years, something he was very proud of. He remained active with many of his Marine Corps friends, including the Marine Corps League Gooney Bird Installation.
Ray met his wife Wanda (Recascino) in high school. They were introduced by mutual friends and they soon fell in love. After Ray successfully passed the ‘boyfriend interrogation’ by Wanda’s Sicilian family, they dated for a couple of years before getting married on November 7, 1953 at St. Francis RC Church in Ridgefield Park. Their honeymoon was enjoyed on the Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune and they have enjoyed more than sixty two years together since. They loved to travel together and spent many weeks each year on St. Maarten and in Florida. Wanda will miss him dearly.
After his time in the Marines, Ray took a job with the Bendix Corporation in Teterboro. He worked the night shift at Bendix as a painter and also held two other part-time jobs, just to make ends meet. As his family grew, he realized that there had to be a better way to make a living, so he went to Montclair State University at night, earning his bachelor’s degree. While attending Montclair, a friend found him a job with PSE&G where he learned to be an auditor. He loved his job at PSE&G and all the great places he got to visit. One of the highlights of his career included a visit to an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. He retired in 1993 at the age of 62.
Ray was fondly known as “Poppa” to just about everyone who knew him. He was the greatest grandfather that his twelve grandchildren could have ever asked for and he taught them important life-lessons, such as how to play cards, and the proper way to bet while playing poker. He was always fun to be with. Ray’s sons recall how much their dad enjoyed golfing. His family all have fond memories of fishing with Ray at their summer home in Mystic Island, NJ. For a number of years they had a place there where they would take the boat out on the bay. Ray loved being out on the water with his family and they all remember those great times. Of course, high on the list of memorable moments is the time they realized that his mother-in-law had made fried calamari out of the squid bait he was keeping in the freezer!
Ray is survived by his beloved wife, Wanda, their five children; Ray of Toluca Lake, CA, Bill of Stanhope, NJ, Tom and his wife Julie of Fairfield, CT, John and his wife Nilda of Justin, TX, and Mary Nicastro and her fiancé Bill Botbyl, twelve grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
For those wishing to make donations in Ray’s memory, please consider the Wounded Warrior Project, PO Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675, www.WoundedWarriorProject.org
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Sunday, April 17, 2016 from 2-6 PM.
Funeral Services will be held at 8:30 AM on Monday, April 18 from the funeral home, then to St. Mary’s RC Church, Pompton Lakes, where at 9:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered. Burial will follow at St. Joseph’s Cemetery Hackensack.
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Sunday, April 17, 2016 from 2-6 PM.
Funeral Services will be held at 8:30 AM on Monday, April 18 from the funeral home, then to St. Mary’s RC Church, Pompton Lakes, where at 9:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered. Burial will follow at St. Joseph’s Cemetery Hackensack.
Raymond McNamee, age 84 of Pompton Lakes, died peacefully on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. “Poppa” was a dedicated husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend to many.
Ray grew up in the Greenville section of Jersey City and moved to Ridgefield Park as a young teenager. He graduated from Ridgefield Park High School with the class of 1950 where he had also played football. He joined the Marine Corps and served for three years, something he was very proud of. He remained active with many of his Marine Corps friends, including the Marine Corps League Gooney Bird Installation.
Ray met his wife Wanda (Recascino) in high school. They were introduced by mutual friends and they soon fell in love. After Ray successfully passed the ‘boyfriend interrogation’ by Wanda’s Sicilian family, they dated for a couple of years before getting married on November 7, 1953 at St. Francis RC Church in Ridgefield Park. Their honeymoon was enjoyed on the Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune and they have enjoyed more than sixty two years together since. They loved to travel together and spent many weeks each year on St. Maarten and in Florida. Wanda will miss him dearly.
After his time in the Marines, Ray took a job with the Bendix Corporation in Teterboro. He worked the night shift at Bendix as a painter and also held two other part-time jobs, just to make ends meet. As his family grew, he realized that there had to be a better way to make a living, so he went to Montclair State University at night, earning his bachelor’s degree. While attending Montclair, a friend found him a job with PSE&G where he learned to be an auditor. He loved his job at PSE&G and all the great places he got to visit. One of the highlights of his career included a visit to an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. He retired in 1993 at the age of 62.
Ray was fondly known as “Poppa” to just about everyone who knew him. He was the greatest grandfather that his twelve grandchildren could have ever asked for and he taught them important life-lessons, such as how to play cards, and the proper way to bet while playing poker. He was always fun to be with. Ray’s sons recall how much their dad enjoyed golfing. His family all have fond memories of fishing with Ray at their summer home in Mystic Island, NJ. For a number of years they had a place there where they would take the boat out on the bay. Ray loved being out on the water with his family and they all remember those great times. Of course, high on the list of memorable moments is the time they realized that his mother-in-law had made fried calamari out of the squid bait he was keeping in the freezer!
Ray is survived by his beloved wife, Wanda, their five children; Ray of Toluca Lake, CA, Bill of Stanhope, NJ, Tom and his wife Julie of Fairfield, CT, John and his wife Nilda of Justin, TX, and Mary Nicastro and her fiancé Bill Botbyl, twelve grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
For those wishing to make donations in Ray’s memory, please consider the Wounded Warrior Project, PO Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675, www.WoundedWarriorProject.org
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