ST. TAMMANY PARISH, LA. 

Obituary for: WADENPFUHL, RAYMOND J. "RAY" 

Submitted by: Louis Lavedan. 

Source: The St. Tammany News, St. Tammany, La.

Published on Friday, January 21, 2011 

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WADENPFUHL

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Raymond J. "Ray" Wadenpfuhl, 82, of Beaumont, Texas, died Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011. 

He was born Nov. 22, 1928, in New Orleans to Jacob and Alma Wadenpfuhl, and had 
been a resident of Beaumont for many years. 

After 36 years of band directing, 18 of which were at Marshall Middle School, he 
retired in 1987.

Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Mary Claire Wadenpfuhl of Beaumont; son, 
Ray "Chip" Wadenpfuhl, Jr. and his wife Linda of Huntsville, Texas; daughter, 
Linda Wadenpfuhl-Jones of Austin, Texas; grandchildren, John Wadenpfuhl and his 
wife Brandy of Saginaw, Lee Wadenpfuhl and his wife Natalie of Boston, Mass., 
Stephen Wadenpfuhl of Houston, Keileen Schrank, and Lewis Schrank of Chicago, 
Ill.; great-grandchildren, Dominic and Gabriel Wadenpfuhl of Saginaw; and many 
other loving family members of which he was so proud.

Ray received his bachelor of music education from Southeastern Louisiana College 
and his master's degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. Ray's first 
teaching assignment was at Covington High School in Covington. He later taught 
at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Miss., then he was the elementary 
school band director in Orange, and Marshall Middle School in Beaumont. Ray 
taught thousands of students during his long band directing career and his bands 
always earned top awards at UIL Contests. 

Ray also received the "Excellence in Music Education" Leadership award from the 
Texas Music Educators Association. He was a member of the Texas Bandmasters 
Association, Texas Music Educators Association and the Association of Texas 
Professional Educators.

Ray was an active member of St. Anne Catholic Church. He spent 19 years as an 
usher, helped take care of the plants around the church and spent many hours in 
the adoration chapel. He was also a member of the St. Anne Catholic Adult 
Organization and has been a member of the 49+ organization for many years. He 
also was a sponsor in the RCIA program.

In the community, Ray was active as well. He is a past president of the Lions 
Club in Orange and past president of the Beaumont Travel and Leisure Club. He 
was a member of the Beaumont Council of Garden Clubs and the Orchid Society.

Ray was a wonderful, kind and loving husband, father, grandpa, great-grandpa, 
uncle, friend and teacher that will be greatly missed by us all.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10 a.m. today at St. Anne Catholic 
Church, 2715 Calder Street, Beaumont. A Christian Vigil was held yesterday at 
St. Anne Catholic Church. Burial will be 10 a.m. tomorrow at Pinecrest Memorial 
Gardens in Covington.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Anne Catholic Church, 2715 Calder 
Street, Beaumont, TX 77701, or to the Humane Society of Southeast Texas, P.O. 
Box 1629, Beaumont, Texas 77704. 

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