Obituary: Maier, Ray Donald “Lefty”
The family moved to another farm near Spangle, WA in September, 1931, then settled on a farm in the Foothills area northeast of Spokane in the summer of 1939.
Lefty, as everyone but his parents called him, began his education in a one room school near Lind and graduated from Spangle High School in 1936 at the age of 16, having skipped two grades in elementary school.
He worked on the family farm and for neighboring farmers until June, 1942 when he entered the U.S. Army, where he served in the Signal Corps as a RADAR technician until the end of World War II.
Returning to Spokane, he worked for Washington Brick and Lime in Dishman for several years before deciding to use his Army training to open and operate Maier Radio and TV, serving Spokane and the Valley until he retired in 1985.
In the meantime he married Doris Stoddard in June, 1946.
When Doris passed away in 2000, Lefty married Doris’s best friend, Glee Smith.
They resided together for nearly ten happy years until Glee passed away in September, 2012.
A lifetime member of the Church of the Nazarene, Lefty went to be with his Lord on August 8.
His sister, Esther, had passed away in September, 1993.
He is survived by his brothers, Harold of Puyallup and Glenn (Nora) of Rathdrum, ID; sister, Ruth of Kennewick; Glee’s children, Jeff, Jodi, Jerron, and Jay; (and six grandchildren) all of the Spokane area.
There are also many nieces and nephews.
Although he had no children of his own, he loved kids and they loved him.
He will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him.
Lefty was an excellent cook.
He was avidly interested in sports of all kinds.
He played baseball in High School, followed by softball, then played golf and fished during his retirement years.
He was a devoted fan of his ZAGS, Cougars, the Seattle Mariners and Seahawks.
He even rooted for the Huskies when they weren’t playing the Cougars!
A memorial service to celebrate Lefty’s life will be held on August 25th at 2:00pm.
at Pasadena Park Nazarene Church, 8822 E. Upriver Dr., Spokane Valley, WA.
(Please make any donations directly to the Union Gospel Mission in Lefty’s name.)