At the age of 12, Ray received a Christmas present from his parents that he had personally hand picked out of the Sears and Roebuck catalog. It was a small child’s movie projector that when hand cranked projected a moving image of then cowboy star, Tom Mix.
Ray’s father, being a practical man who worked for the Illinois Central Railroad, always tried encouraging Ray to follow a solid, practical occupation. Ray’s mother, however, always encouraged him to follow his passion. As a boy, still in school, Ray got a job working in the Capitol Theater in Benton and was introduced to the theater manager, who he convinced to show him how to operate the projection booth.
After Ray had a working knowledge of the equipment, Ray then joined the Illinois Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 421, in order that he could be allowed to work with theater equipment. Ray started working projection equipment in theaters throughout Southern Illinois so he could gain experience and in order to give the regular projectionists an occasional break.
Ray continued working area theaters throughout high school, his fascination with projecting movies would follow him throughout his life.
In 1943, Ray was drafted into the U.S. Army and was placed in the Army Air Corps as a private. He attended training in communications at Sioux Falls, South Dakota. After initial training, he received specialized training in the radios that were used on B-24 bombers.
His first assignment was to go to Yuma, Arizona where he and other men came together to form a complete B-24J Liberator flight crew, who would stay together from then on out. From there, the crew was sent to Colorado Springs for training, then Bangor, Maine and then to Norwich, England as members of the 458th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force. The bomber that his crew was assigned to was named the “Dorothy Kay Special”.
In England during that period of the war, the country was in constant black out conditions with great damage having been inflicted on the country from aerial bombing, so there was no sightseeing. The bomb group he was attached to was called repeatedly to attempt bombing missions over Germany, including Berlin itself. A number of bombing runs had to be aborted due to the inability to see the target due to poor visibility, but many were accomplished under the constant threat of being ripped apart by anti-aircraft guns. Not that the B24 couldn’t defend itself, since it was armed with 10- 50 caliber machine guns.
Many bombers were ripped apart by the shrapnel from AAA weapons and Ray’s bomber took a number of hits on numerous occasions. Most bombing mission ran about 10 hours. Ray indicated that the crewmen would wear layered clothing when they flew. One reason was due to the cold temperature inside the planes. The second was because the bottom layer was usually civilian clothing. In case of a bailout, they wanted to be able to blend into the countryside and make their way to the closest free French civilians or a resistance movement.
After 35 bombing missions and being awarded the Air Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters (the equivalent to being awarded the Air Medal six times), Ray was sent back home on a liberty ship to Boston.
The returning G.I.’s, where Ray was received, were told that they could order anything they wanted to eat and were served by German P.O.W. soldiers. Since Ray was just short of enough credit to be discharged he was offered his pick of any job he wanted to finish out his term of service. He told them that he would like to go to Hollywood and run a theater, so Ray was given a job managing a theater at Camp Kohler in Los Angeles, California. He got to California via a scenic Canadian Railroad trip.
When Ray was discharged from service in October 1945 he held the rank of Tech Sergeant.
In 1946, Ray was hired at the, then fairly new, Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Marion as Chief of Recreation. In this capacity, Ray was involved in showing movies, arranging the distribution of public address messages and radio programs to the patient’s bedsides and generally providing entertainment. Ray came up with air shows, horse pulling contests, and various other venues. For 25 years, he put on an afternoon entertainment show as Doctor Music. Being friends with George W. Dodds, who owned the WGGH radio station in Marion, Ray was given access to the use of Lucky Leroy who regularly performed at Dodd’s station for occasional use at the V.A. hospital.
Ray’s “Doctor Music Show” was taped and broadcast each Saturday at 2 P.M. for 15 years over WGGH.
Ray was delegated the task of installing a public address system in the front of the V.A. hospital during the visits of Harry S. Truman in September of 1948 and John Kennedy in 1960. In 1972, third prize was taken in a national contest sponsored by the Bedside Network for the Veterans Hospital Radio and Television Guild of New York City with a submission by Ray created by him, patients and volunteer workers. Judging was done by Bill Cullen, Gene Rayburn and Ann Flood.
Ray’s experience in electronics was put to use in in 1959 when the new Marion swimming pool opened up and Ray installed the P.A. system for them at the recommendation of Ray McCormick. He was used again to install a P.A. system at the ball field around the same period of time.
After 35 years with the V.A., Ray retired in 1980. The next week, city commissioner Everett Jeter called him to come up to the old shut down Orpheum Theater and look it over accompanied by Jeter, Mayor Robert Butler, Rex Presson, Yolanda Peterson, Jackie Hancock and city engineer Glen Clarida. Thanks to coaxing on the part of Jackie Hancock, the determination was made on the part of the city to restore the old theater to its former glory and turn it into a theater for the performing arts. Ray was chosen to become the director of the Marion Civic Center and remained in that position until he retired in 1992.
Ray recalled that of the many highlights experienced while working at the Civic Center was meeting Red Skelton at the airport in St. Louis and being responsible for his needs while he was performing here. He got to take Red out to dinner, provide his accommodations and show him around town to meet people.
In 1946, Ray married Louise Bryant, they had two children named Phillip Ray Reynolds and Linda Kay Reynolds. The family resided at 307 S. Third Street which Ray purchased in 1946.
In 1966, Ray was married to Ethel (Bentzinger) Brigham, until her death on May 27, 2011. They resided at 420 Bainbridge Road.
In 1974, Ray was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the Marion Jaycees. In 1979 he was awarded the Veterans Service Organizations Award for 35 years’ service to our nation. In 1994 he received a reward of Dedication and Contribution as Chairman of the Board of Directors for 21 years’ service to the Marion Cultural and Civic Center. In 1981, he received the Award of Harmony presented by the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America.
In 1985, the Greater Marion Area Chamber of Commerce awarded his home first place for having the prettiest home at Christmas. In 1989, Ray served as a member of the Program and Events Committee for the 1989 Sesquicentennial. In 1991, he received an award for his dedication and contributions as President of the Franklin County Country Club. In 1993, he was nominated to the Marquis Book of Who’s Who in America. In 1993, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award for 40 years of dedication and devotion to his profession by the Marion Chamber of Commerce.
Ray holds a pilot license with a rating of Single Engine Land Aircraft.
He has been a member of the Benton First Baptist Church for 77 years as of this writing on November 6, 2013.
Ray has a lifetime membership in the Marion BPOE Lodge #800, the Franklin County Country Club and the Marion Country Club and at this writing is currently enjoying his retirement.
(Data taken from an interview with Ray Reynolds in November 2103; photos courtesy of Ray Reynolds; Compiled by Sam Lattuca on 11/08/2013)