Raymond L. Cyr, son of Ferdinand and Carmen (Doyon) Cyr of Waterville, Maine, passed on November 25 after a short illness. He is survived by two of his five siblings, Esther Louise Poliquin of Maine and Rita (Tichey) Setteducato of Connecticut. His other three sisters predeceased him: Janet Cyr (Florida), Geraldine Vermillion (Georgia) and Greta Annillo (New Jersey). On July 5, 1975, Raymond married his Waterville sweetheart Lorraine R. Dore. They were blissfully married for 42 years until Lorraine passed away on November 27, 2018, also in Ormond Beach.
Ray was born on March 31, 1935 in Waterville, graduated from Waterville High School, and attended Thomas Business College (also in Waterville). In September, 1955, Raymond enlisting in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed at Dow Air Force Base in Bangor, Maine; Moron Air Base in Seville, Spain; and Anderson AFB on the North Pacific island of Guam. During his eight years in the military, Ray compassionately served his fellow servicemen and women as a Catholic Chaplain Assistant. While in Guam, he proudly held the distance swimming record among the other enlistees, learned from years of open water swimming on Snow Pond in Oakland, Maine where the Cyr family enjoyed their precious summer cottage. Military service provided Ray with a taste of international travel which he and Lorraine enjoyed until their 80s.
After being honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1963, Ray moved to Ansonia. For 22 years, he managed the popular Main Street business Lewis Jewelers where his Maine roots of honesty and integrity were on full display in this hard-working New England town. It was during these years that Ray and Lorraine married on a glorious Saturday in Belgrade Lakes, Maine after which they settled back in Ansonia. Lorraine joined the skilled nursing team at the Yale New Haven Hospital while Ray continued his managerial duties at Lewis Jewelers. When they got a break from their busy lives, they danced their way across the floors of cruise ships from Alaska to Israel. However, the most prized time was always back in Central Maine during summers at their cottage on Salmon Lake.
Raymond Cyr had an acute interest in politics and serving the greater good. He wasn’t shy about expressing his views, albeit respectfully and with good cheer. He remembered every small detail of when and where he met or saw up close six American Presidents and two Popes. He cheerfully greeted worshippers at St. Brendan Catholic Church in Ormond Beach. During his final years, Ray made it a point to tell his family of the six mentors who shaped his life – his admired uncle Monsignor George Cyr of Maine, businessman uncle Robert Maheu of Las Vegas, U.S. Air Force Chaplain Bill Campbell, nephew U.S. Congressman Bruce Poliquin of Maine, businessman Alan Schpero who owned Lewis Jewelers, and close friend and co-worker Jim Kazmerski of Connecticut.
Ray Cyr was a gentle and loving man, proud of his French-Canadian Catholic heritage. He never met a person who wasn’t his friend. He adored his extended family of nieces and nephews, encouraging and staying connected with each of them. Whenever and wherever they gathered, passionate card games and tall tales of Central Maine would carry on late into the night. Although never having children of their own, Ray and Lorraine embraced their nieces and nephews on both sides of their marriage as their own kids. During their later years, they extended their love and kindness to 5‑year-old Brandon Larwa and his 11-year-old brother Nick of Ormond Beach. Raymond treated all of his relatives almost as well as he did his three spoiled Pekingese dogs over the years.
Raymond Cyr was a special man who will be forever missed. May God rest his gentle soul in peace for all time. Next summer, the family is planning a Catholic mass and burial for Ray’s ashes at Pine Grove Cemetary in Waterville beside those of his beloved wife Lorraine.
