for
Commodore Ray LeShane
October 7, 1920 - April 30, 2008
Longtime VSS member Ray LeShane
passed away on April 30 in Venice at the age of 87. He
and Marilyn moved to Venice in 1988 and they
joined the Sailing Squadron soon thereafter. The cause of
death was pneumonia, but he had been incapacitated for the last few
years after suffering a stroke.
Ray served in several positions in the Squadron, including Vice Commodore. Shortly after his stroke the VSS membership elected him to Honorary Commodore. He will be best remembered by the bridge tenders of Venice as the VSS Santa Claus who delivered cookies every Christmas for 10 years.
Prior to his retirement he worked as an engineer for GE for 37 years. Ray is survived by his wife Marilyn, a sister and a brother, two children from a previous marriage, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. (Please scroll to the bottom)
Ray and Marilyn with some friends at the 2003 VSS Change of Watch
Ray served in several positions in the Squadron, including Vice Commodore. Shortly after his stroke the VSS membership elected him to Honorary Commodore. He will be best remembered by the bridge tenders of Venice as the VSS Santa Claus who delivered cookies every Christmas for 10 years.
Prior to his retirement he worked as an engineer for GE for 37 years. Ray is survived by his wife Marilyn, a sister and a brother, two children from a previous marriage, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. (Please scroll to the bottom)
Ray and Marilyn with some friends at the 2003 VSS Change of Watch
Ray's ashes were scattered on the
Gulf of Mexico off Venice on Sunday, May 25th, 2008.
If you would like to post a
remembrance or a story about Ray on this page, send an email to Venicesailor@comcast.net.
Please put Ray or LeShane in the subject line. We can accept text
and pictures.
Ray LeShane and I share a friendship and background that dates back to January 1950 when we joined together to open a new sales office in Cincinnati, Ohio for an affiliate of the General Electric Company. We have known each other since and have remained in close touch though our lives. I knew their children Dick and Sandy as children and Sandy used to baby sit for our children. We knew his first wife Jessica well and, in a sense, shared the Alzheimer experience. We remained together in that Office for about three years, and amazingly never had the slightest disagreement during that time.
One experience about Ray I will never forget. We both came to the office one very snowy day in January when neither of us should have left home, but we were young energetic sales people interested in doing our jobs well. Ray was scheduled to travel to Fort Wayne, Indiana that day for an appointment with Magnavox. I commented to him that his trip was certainly impossible because of the heavy snow. He said, "Absolutely not. I'm going, snow or no snow." He went and was the first person to arrive at the Magnavox facility in Fort Wayne. Coincidentally, the person who greeted him some minutes later was the President of Magnavox. I will never forget his dedication, loyalty, perseverance and determination. He was an outstanding human being who shall be missed.
Charles J. Fabso (Chuck)
The first VSS meeting that Jack & I went to was in
1992. The club was meeting at the South Venice Yacht Club and Jan
Bowen was the Commodore. When we walked in, looking very lost
since we did not know a soul there, Ray and Marilyn LeShane came over
to us, introduced themselves and insisted that we sit with them.
They were both so warm and friendly to us, we knew that we needed to
join immediately. So shortly after joining, we were walking in our
Golden Beach neighborhood one afternoon and who pulls up to us but
Ray. He told Jack that he was on the nominating commitee and
wanted to nominate his name for Treasurer. We thought it was cute
that we had just joined VSS and now they wanted to give Jack the check
book! Thanks to Ray and Marilyn we have been associated with the
group since that night in 1992 and have made many friends because of
their kindness towards us that night. Thank you both.....Cheers
Ray. Your wonderful smile and laughter will remain always with
those of us who knew you.
Janice & Jack Stevenson
Ray LeShane and I share a friendship and background that dates back to January 1950 when we joined together to open a new sales office in Cincinnati, Ohio for an affiliate of the General Electric Company. We have known each other since and have remained in close touch though our lives. I knew their children Dick and Sandy as children and Sandy used to baby sit for our children. We knew his first wife Jessica well and, in a sense, shared the Alzheimer experience. We remained together in that Office for about three years, and amazingly never had the slightest disagreement during that time.
One experience about Ray I will never forget. We both came to the office one very snowy day in January when neither of us should have left home, but we were young energetic sales people interested in doing our jobs well. Ray was scheduled to travel to Fort Wayne, Indiana that day for an appointment with Magnavox. I commented to him that his trip was certainly impossible because of the heavy snow. He said, "Absolutely not. I'm going, snow or no snow." He went and was the first person to arrive at the Magnavox facility in Fort Wayne. Coincidentally, the person who greeted him some minutes later was the President of Magnavox. I will never forget his dedication, loyalty, perseverance and determination. He was an outstanding human being who shall be missed.
Charles J. Fabso (Chuck)
Ray was one of the friendliest guys. He always had
a smile on his face, and ready to talk for hours about
everything. He was a great friend of ours on the lake. Spent
some good times together, and we surly will miss him. Remember
the nights we spent sleeping in your
boat? We didn't even fall in the water from too much brandy.
Friends Riney and Carol Nowak God Bless You