Ray Arden Perry died peacefully in his sleep on the morning of Friday, December 30th, 2022. He was 89 years old. Ray was born October 31, 1933, at Nampa, Idaho. He was the first in his family to go to college and attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah on a football scholarship. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering and was a member of BYU’s Air Force ROTC program, which allowed him to earn his wings and serve in the US Air Force. He flew combat missions in the Vietnam War and defended the Nation during the Cuban missile crisis based at Homestead AFB in Florida. He married Dorothy Jeane Langford from Overton, Nevada in St George, Utah and together they had three children, Cydne, Steven and David.
He became a commercial aviator for Pan American World Airways in 1967 and flew the Boeing 707, 727, and 747 aircraft globally throughout his career which ended in December of 1991 after the airline declared bankruptcy. He routinely returned home with first class menus signed by famous people from Frank Sinatra, Phyllis Diller, Lucile Ball, Perry Como and Charleston Heston to name a few. He enjoyed traveling the globe visiting faraway places and had a passion for visiting historical sites and places of interest. He substitute taught history and mathematics at Foothill High School in Tustin, California in between his flight schedule. The high school kids loved his lessons because he made the history book come alive with his stories of international travels and firsthand experiences of historical sites. He had several scary flight experiences to include flying the Shaw of Iran out of the country to exile in the US. He was also one day away from piloting flight 103 from Frankfurt to NYC which blew up over Lockerbie, Scottland. One of the highlights of his career was bringing home the 101st Airborne Division from serving in Operation Desert Storm and being the first commercial carrier to touch down on US soil. Ray was also an entrepreneur and business owner of two Shell gas stations in Orange, California and had an 18 acre vineyard in Northern California with commercial contracts with various wineries to purchase his annual harvest. He loved the peace and serenity of the Placerville, California property where he built his dream home with his wife Jeane. He retired from the airlines and sold the gas stations in 1992 to live full-time in Northern California.
He is survived by his daughter Cydne Sapperstein, son David Perry and daughter-in-law Mary Ann Perry, seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife Dorothy Jeane Perry, son Steven Perry and two brothers Richard Perry and Don Perry.
Arrangements are under the direction of Hooper & Weaver Mortuary.