Raymond A. McElvogue (1985)

DWIERE, FRANZEL, MAINARD, MCELVOUGUE, SAND, SHOOP

Posted By: Pat Hochstetler
Date: 1/26/2009 at 10:05:36

The Earlham Echo
Earlham, Iowa
Thursday, July 4, 1985

Raymond A. McElvougue (sic) died of cancer June 25, 1985 at the Humana Hospital in Houston, Texas.

Ray was born September 16, 1918, at Roanwood, Montana. He attended Earlham School, graduating in 1936. Ray was a member of the Earlham Church of Christ.

He married Georgia Shoop of Hartford in 1939 and they had three children, Ronald, Delores and Don, and several grandchildren.

Ray was in the U.S. Navy Sea Bees during World War II, leaving as Chief Petty Officer.

Survivors other than his immediate family are sisters Ruth Sands, Ocotillo, CA, Goldie Franzel and Gladys Diviere of San Diego, CA and Anna Mainard, Des Moines, IA and other relatives.

Ray was buried in Tyler, Texas.
_________________________

The Marshall News Messenger
Marshall, Texas
Thursday, June 27, 1985
Page 3, Column 1

Raymond A. McElvogue

Memorial services for Raymond A. McElvogue , 66, of La Porte, longtime Marshall civic leader and former general manager of Thiokol Corp.’s Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant operation, will be at 5 p.m. Friday at Colonial Chapel of the Sullivan Funeral Home. The Rev. Rick Sawyer of DeBerry Baptist Church will officiate and Max S. Lale will be eulogist.

Mr. McElvogue died at 7:45 a.m. Tuesday, June 25, 1985, at his home after six months of illness.

One of the driving forces for progress in Marshall in the 1960s, Mr. McElvogue served as a city commissioner, president of the Chamber of Commerce, and spearheaded the creation of Greater Marshall Industries.

The Roanwood, Mont., native was born Sept. 18, 1918, a son of LeRoy A. and Sarah Matilda Fisher McElvogue. He was a pioneer rocket scientist and engineer who joined Thiokol at the Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Ala., in 1952 and transferred to Longhorn later that year as works engineer and as the first Thiokol employee at the plant when that company obtained the operating contract. He rose through the ranks, successively as chief engineer, propellant works manager and, in 1960, was named general manager. He left the local plant in 1970 when he was promoted to Thiokol operations in San Antonio.

Mr. McElvogue was educated at Iowa State University and served in the US Navy in World War II as a Seabee.

The list of his civic and professional activities in Marshall is extensive. He was finance chairman and president of Pine Tree District of Boy Scouts, a member of Marshall Rotary Club, president of the Louisiana chapter of American Ordinance Association and Man of the Month of East Texas Chamber of Commerce in May 1963. During his family’s residence in Marshall he was a member and vestryman of Trinity Episcopal Church.

Mr. McElvogue was chairman of the Harrison County Airport Advisory Committee and was elected to the Marshall City Commission in 1967.

During his service to the Marshall Chamber of Commerce, Mr. McElvogue was appointed by Carlos Cacioppo to see to the creation of an industrial development commission for Harrison County. The result was Greater Marshall Industries, which grew steadily through the years and recently was renamed Marshall-Harrison County Industries Association with inter-governmental and private financial backing and a full-time executive.

He married Georgia Susan Shoop on July 8, 1939, at Hartford, Iowa. She survives with two sons, Ronald of Morgans Point in Donald of Tyler; a daughter, Dolores (Mrs. Billy) Merritt of Mount Bellview; six grandchildren; and three sisters, Gladys Dwiere, Goldie Franzel and Ruth Sand of San Diego, Calif.