Obituary: Pineo, Ray Dan
Age 93
Major USMC (Ret)
Born January 7, 1919, Died May 22, 2012
Ray Dan Pineo was born in Seattle, Washington on January 7, 1919, to Newell and Gladys (Morton) Pineo, and grew up in Seattle and Everett.
Ray graduated from Lincoln High School in Seattle in 1937, and worked a variety of jobs there until joining the US Marine Corps in August, 1940.
After aircraft mechanics school in Jacksonville, Florida, Corporal Pineo was with Marine Air Group 22 in San Diego when Pearl Harbor was attacked.
Corporal Pineo steamed to Pearl Harbor aboard the aircraft carrier Saratoga on December 9, 1941 and participated in the Battle of Midway on Eastern Island with VMF 221, as part of the Marine garrison, earning the Presidential Unit Citation.
The war took him to Espiritu Santo, the Solomon Islands and Guadalcanal, before he entered flight training, gaining his aviator’s certificate in November 1945.
Lieutenant Ray Pineo married Inga Anderson in 1946, after they met in Corpus Christi, Texas, during his instrument flight training.
In November 1952, Captain Pineo deployed to Korea with Marine Attack Squadron (VMA) 323, where he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with silver and gold stars, and many other citations and medals, flying F4U Corsairs.
In his subsequent military career, Major Pineo completed tours of duty in England and Europe, California, Virginia, and aboard the amphibious assault carrier Valley Forge in the South China Sea during the early stages of the Vietnam War.
He completed his final tour of duty in 1966 at NAS Floyd Bennett in New York.
Major Pineo joined Pan American World Airways in New York, retiring in 1981.
Ray and Inga separated in 1969.
After retiring, Major Pineo lived in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania from 1981 until moving to Spokane in April 2011.
He was preceded in death by his father Newell in 1970, his brother Craig in 1977, and his mother Gladys in 1995.
Ray Pineo is survived by sons, daughters and their spouses Doug and Trish Pineo of Spokane; Tom and Mary Pineo of Elmira, New York; Cecilia and David O’Brien of Seattle; Jessica and Paul Lohnes of Winchester, Massachusetts; grandchildren Helen, Matthew, Chris, Stephanie, Henry, Teddy, Amanda, Rikki and Melissa, six nephews and nieces, and several cousins.
Ray Pineo was an accomplished photographer, woodworker and artist who also wrote Haiku and other poems.
Beginning as a caddy in Seattle in the 1930s, he was a lifelong avid golfer.
Grandpa Ray had a great sympathy and appreciation for nature.
A memorial will be scheduled later this year at the Machias Community Cemetery in Snohomish County.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Nature Conservancy.