Truscott, Raymond

August 15, 1919 - August 12, 2013 

Raymond Truscott Resident of Hayward Our dearest daddy left this world in the early morning hours of Aug. 12, 2013 in Hayward, CA after a months-long illness and physical struggles from which he is now free. He is now with those who went before and whom he loved dearly. Predeceased by his first wife, Alice May Carter Truscott (1967), his second wife, Helen Sekva Truscott (2005) and his grandson, Justin Raymond Altvater (2006), his brothers James and Richard and his sister Myra. Ray leaves behind his two daughters, Alice Lynne (Berkeley, CA) and Margaret Ann Truscott (Clayton, NC), and his brother Victor David Truscott (New York). He also leaves his dearly loved nieces : Judi Van Gorder (Robert), Denise Truscott (Gary), Tricia Truscott (Michael), Krista "Kitty" Truscott, and nephews Richard Kent Truscott, and Craig Truscott (Alyse), Stephen Truscott (Diane), Daniel Truscott. Ray was born in Grass Valley CA to James C. Truscott and Elizabeth Grace Bartle, the 4th child and 3rd son of a hard rock miner, working in the Empire Mine. The family relocated to Oakland, CA in the 1920's and Ray and his siblings grew up in Oakland. Ray graduated from Oakland Technical HS, worked in various positions in grocery stores (produce), at the very first "Caspers" hot dog stand in Oakland and as a driver of an "elephant train" tourist bus at the San Francisco Worlds Fair and Exposition during the 1930's. With the onset of WWII, Raymond volunteered for the Army in 1941 and served in the Army Air Corp as a Second Lieutenant until 1945. He flew the P-47 fighter he called "L'il Joe" in Italy and North Africa until his plane was hit, destroying his landing gear and he limped back to base, landing his aircraft upside down but surviving, albeit with broken cervical vertebrae which ended his flying and military career. After returning home to recover (which he did, completely), he met the love of his life, Alice (a WAVE from North Dakota) whom he married a bare 6 weeks after meeting her and went on to start a family. Ray entered the newspaper business in circulation, first with the Redwood City Tribune, ultimately working across the Bay Area for the San Jose Mercury, Hayward Daily Review, SF Chronicle and the Oakland Tribune before retiring Ever a gentleman, a self-taught scholar and John Wayne aficionado, we will sorely miss his gentle humor, off-kilter smile and twinkling eyes as he demonstrated in so many ways over so many years, the love he had for each of us. Into the Wild Blue, daddy. Our hearts fly with you.

Published in Inside Bay Area on August 25, 2013