Raymond Robert Bacon
Raymond Robert Bacon spent his life doing kind deeds for others without expecting recognition.
One day at his home, Mr. Bacon heard a car wreck in the distance. He hurried to the scene, his wife Geneva Bacon said, where he found a man pinned in an overturned car. Mr. Bacon, a trained medical technician, climbed into the car, helped the man out and wrapped his wounds to minimize bleeding before the ambulance arrived.
He never told his family or his Air Force commander about the incident. Instead, the people close to him found out when the man whose life he’d saved contacted the commander.
Mr. Bacon died Friday, Jan. 22, 2010. He was 86.
He was born Feb. 1, 1923, in Ellis, Kan., to William and Bertha (Duermyer) Bacon.
Before graduating from high school, Mr. Bacon joined the armed forces. He transferred to the Air Force, where he was trained to be an independent medical technician, in 1952.
He met Geneva Lemke while serving in the Air Force. The two married Oct. 19, 1957.
After retiring as a master sergeant in 1966, Mr. Bacon started a farm and spent much of his time at home with his two sons, Raymond and Robert. He also volunteered with local churches and nurseries helping to put together equipment.
“Everyone who met him said he had that special spark that could light up a whole room,” said Karen Nelson-Bacon, his daughter-in-law.
Family members describe Mr. Bacon as having a mischievous sense of humor.
“I think that was part of his spark,” Nelson-Bacon said. “Even if he wasn’t saying something funny, he was thinking it.”
Later in his life, Mr. Bacon volunteered at Family of Life Lutheran Church in Ashland, where he served as an elder and on various committees.
Mr. Bacon is survived by his wife; two sons, Raymond Bacon of Columbia and Robert Bacon of Hartsburg; and two grandsons, Evan Bacon and Logan Bacon.
Brothers Forrest and William Bacon and sisters Alice Bacon and Bertha Tushus died earlier.
Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Robinson Funeral Home, 601 N. Henry Clay Blvd., in Ashland. Services will follow at 4 p.m. Services will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Armstrong Cemetery in Rushville.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the Lutheran World Relief in care of the family.
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