Raymond McKinlay WILLEMSSEN

WILLEMSSEN, MCMILLAN, WIESE, MCKINLAY, SHOUP, MCKEOWN

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 11/6/2016 at 23:27:30

December 15, 1919 ---- November 4, 1993

Funeral services were held Monday, November 8, for Raymond McKinlay Willemssen, 73, from the First United Methodist Church in Clarion with the Reverend Charles B. Kellogg officiating. Burial was in Riverview Cemetery, Rock Rapids. The Reverend Ray Willemssen, Rock Rapids, cousin of the deceased, officiated at the burial site. Willim Funeral Home of Clarion was in charge of the arrangements. Music was provided by Betty Jean Loom, organist, and Judy Willemssen, soloist.

Raymond died Thursday, November 4, at the Community Memorial Hospital, Clarion, after an extended illness. Raymond McKinlay Willemssen was born on December 15, 1919, in George, to Ulfert H.D. and Verona J. (McKinlay) Willemssen. His father, a former Lyon County businessman, died in 1925. In 1928, Raymond moved with his mother to her hometown in Rock Rapids. Raymond graduated from Rock Rapids High School in 1937. He worked one year for the municipal power company, then enrolled at Iowa State College (now University) in Ames, where he participated in the Advanced ROTC Program. He graduated in 1942 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering. After training in radar, Raymond served from 1943 through 1945 with the U.S. Army Signal Corps in the region of the Panama Canal. Raymond enrolled in additional courses at Iowa State following his discharge, then began his lifelong career in rural electrification in April 1946. He was united in marriage to Betty Anne McMillan daughter of Dr. H. L. and Alma M.(Wiese) McMillan on August 20, 1946 in Estherville. Raymond worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., December 1954; from 1946 to 1950; and as a field engineer for the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) - first from Waterloo, then from Fort Dodge — from 1950 to 1954. He was named General Manager of the Wright County Rural Electric Cooperative (REC) in Clarion, a position which he held through his retirement in January 1985. Raymond served on the Board of the Iowa Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives and was honored as Clarion Jaycees' "Boss of the Year" in 1967.

He was an active member of the First United Methodist Church in Clarion, serving as church treasurer for 25 years. Board member, Sunday School teacher, choir member and lay delegate for seven years to the Annual Conference of the Iowa United Methodist Church. He was a Paul Harris Fellow, past president and member of the Clarion Rotary Club for 30 years.

Raymond was an avid genealogist for many years and a member of the Wright County Genealogical Searchers. He served the Clarion High School Quarterback Club as treasurer for four years and Boy Scout Troop 47, Clarion, as treasurer for many years. He was a life member of the Iowa State University Alumni Association and the Iowa State Memorial Union. At the time of his death, Raymond still owns the McKinlay family farm "Pantop" in Midland Township, three miles east of Rock Rapids along Iowa Highway 9. The land has been farmed recently by the Lawrence and Douglas Rockhill families.

Raymond is survived by his wife, Betty; his son and daughter-in-law, Mac R. and Judith A. (Shoup) Willemssen of Chaska, Minnesota; his daughter and son-in-law, Anne W. and Kim I. McKeown of Council Bluffs, and two grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his father in 1925 and his mother in 1964.

Wright County Monitor -- Clarion, Iowa
November 10, 1993