May 18, 1939 - July 23, 2020
1939 - 2020
Ray Carson died peacefully at the Red Deer Hospice on Thursday, July 23, 2020 at the age of 81 years, a few weeks after a diagnosis of cancer. He was born on May 18, 1939 in Clydebank, Scotland, to Jim and Helen (Kirkwood) Carson.
He attended Public School until the age of fifteen, when he was admitted to the Glasgow School of Engineering, in Civil Engineering. At the end of the first year, he surprised himself and everyone else by finishing at the top of the class! His studies were cut short when the family, his parents and two younger brothers immigrated to Canada in 1957, settling in the Vancouver Area.
After a short stint in the RCAF, Ray worked at odd jobs, from Winnipeg to Vancouver, until landing a steady job at Vancouver Pile Driving. There, his education and talents became recognized and he moved forward from then on.
In 1964, he met and married Lynne Shultz, who had moved to the coast from Alberta, and was working at the Vancouver General Hospital. They lived in North Vancouver for a time, where son, Vincent was born and then moved to Calgary for a position with Narod Construction. Richard and Heather were born in Calgary; where the family lived for about seven years, until relocating to Red Deer.
Ray worked for several medium and smaller construction companies as Estimator, Superintendent and Project Manager. By 1979, Ray and family moved to the Evergreen Area, where he built a house from scratch. He then built up a Cow-Calf Business, while having no previous farming experience. The herd was sold in 2000 and he has been retired since then.
He continued to keep busy until very recently, making things out of wood. He made numerous violins, trying to improve on each one. Ray made everything from high-end furniture (usually from oak), to cedar strip canoes and everything in between. He was almost entirely self taught by reading books. He built a workshop in 2012 and spent countless hours there.
Though not frequent travelers, Ray and Lynne made two trips to Scotland, to meet some relatives and acquaintances, a few trips to the US, a visit to the Maritimes, and RV trips to the Yukon and Winnipeg. Ray mostly enjoyed camping at the family's own place, northeast of Eckville, and canoeing or boating at Sylvan Lake. In earlier years, he enjoyed skiing and sailing.
Ray was devoted to his family and was proud of the achievements of his children and grandchildren. He was always fascinated by science and happy to see that several grandchildren are carrying on in the fields of science and technology.
He is survived by his loving wife or nearly 56 years, Lynne, his son, Vincent (Tracy), his son, Richard (Shannon), his daughter, Heather Chiasson (Ken), eight grandchildren, Katherine Smith, Andrew Smith, Liam Carson, Kayley Carson, Amber Carson, Michael Carson, Blake Carson and Alexander Chiasson.
Because of restrictions of numbers allowed, we are holding a Private Celebration of Life at the Parkland Funeral Home. If desired, Memorial Donations in Ray's honour may be made directly to the Red Deer Hospice Society at www.reddeerhospice.com or to the Alberta Cancer Foundation at www.albertacancer.ca.
Condolences may be sent or viewed at www.parklandfuneralhome.com
Arrangements in care of Parkland Funeral Home and Crematorium, 6287 - 67 A Street (Taylor Drive), Red Deer. 403-340-4040.
arkland Funeral Home and Crematorium