Burl Ray Prim, 88, former Cedar Key bank courier, died quietly at his home in Tallahassee, surrounded by friends, on Friday, November 27, 2009.
A memorial service with military honors will be held at Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, Florida, on Friday, December 11 at 1:00 pm.
Ray was born at Haileyville, Oklahoma, on October 11, 1921. He attended several schools and was at the University of Oklahoma on December 7, 1941, when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Immediately, he joined the Marines, landing in the first wave with the Fourth Marine Division on Iwo Jima in February, 1945. He was in bloody fighting day and night for 31 days, working with Navajo code talkers, maintaining communications between units and witnessing the raising of the American flags. After the war he was employed 27 years by Grolier, Inc., publishers of general encyclopedias. In Tallahassee he owned and operated Prim`s Trim Shop. He worked for 3 years as a Capitol security officer , and then became a courier for Capital City Bank, especially on a route between Cedar Key and Tallahassee. He later worked as a courier for Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. He was active in ham radio as KD4VQS. Ray had a real talent for bringing people together. He was a person of great faith and felt God had a plan for him. His signature sign-off was "God loves you and so do I!"
Ray was predeceased by his parents, his ex-wife, and a son, David Ray Prim. He is survived by two daughters, Nancy A. McArthur of Phoenix, AZ and Lisa J. Truffa of Lawton, MI; four grandsons, Jeremy McArthur of Scottsdale, AZ, Lewis Franklin and Michael Speck of Oklahoma City, OK, and Christen Pearson of Eagle Creek, AK; as well as two great-grandchildren. He is remembered by groups of marines and ham operators, and many other special friends.
Donations may be made to Big Bend Hospice, 1723 Mahan Center Blvd., Tallahassee, FL 32308. Arrangements by Beggs Funeral Home, Tallahassee, FL. |
