Raymond Calvin Furgeson

September 30, 1942 - November 29, 2016

Raymond Calvin Furgeson, cherished husband, father and grandfather passed away Tuesday, November 29, 2016 ending his long fight with cancer. Raymond entered this life on September 30, 1942. He was the first child of Raymond and Ruth Arrington Furgeson arriving in Ogden, Utah during the height of WW II. His pre-school years were spent in renovated army barracks housing in Washington Terrace, Utah. Ray proceeded through his school years working with his father to build a basement home on Porter Avenue in downtown Ogden. He attended Ogden High School where he joined the ROTC to fulfill his military duties. This required basic training when he was only seventeen at Fort Ord, California. He was physically and spiritually prepared at the age of nineteen in 1961 to serve an LDS Mission to the state of Texas. This was a service of love for two years learning the Southern culture, appreciating a people who knew their Bible. After he returned, his early young adult years were spent working at the Dee MacKay Hospital as a medical orderly. His small salary provided an income for he and Renee Dunn to wed in 1967. They were married in the Logan Temple in Logan, Utah. Immediately after the wedding he and Renee moved to Salt Lake City, so Ray could proceed to meet his goal of a college degree. In 1970 he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education. This quest for higher education led to moving in 1970 to Long Beach, California to begin work for a specialized degree in Physical Therapy at California State Long Beach. The entry program for this degree was filled so he elected to change majors to Adaptive Physical Education working with physically challenged children. This love of playing games with children carried into a career of thirty-five years with the Garden Grove, California School District. He never did regret moving into a different field. His devotion to family and church included years of service to the LDS church. During his lifetime he served with the Young Men, Scouts and four years as an early morning seminary teacher. He retired from the school district in June of 2004 and within three weeks began serving with his wife in the Albuquerque, New Mexico Mission Office. Upon returning from their mission Ray and Renee elected to move back to American Fork, Utah to be near aging parents. This cemented a good retirement life in an active senior community where Ray kindled a love for golf. The years 2009 to 2010 were devoted to a Church History Mission in Salt Lake City. Ray was known to his friends and neighbors as a gentle, loving teacher of children. When he walked into a room he would choose to be with children first. Ray is survived by his wife Renee, son Anthony Ray and daughter Nichole Dart. His posterity includes six grandchildren: Emma, Russell, Spencer, Benjamin, Kylie and Brennon. His younger sister GraceAnn Furgeson preceded him in death. Funeral Services will be held Saturday, December 10th, at 11:00 am, at the American Fork 38th Ward, 2433 West 450 South, Pleasant Grove, Utah, where a Viewing will be held prior from 9:00 to 10:30 am. Interment in Highland City Cemetery. Funeral Directors: Utah Valley Mortuary.