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Beloved, longtime teacher-coach Ray Oliver '40 passed away peacefully on Saturday, February 25, with his family by his side. A memorial service was held on Saturday, March 3 in Tagart Memorial Chapel. View the video of the service. Ray will be inurned in the McDonogh columbarium at a later date. Read his obituary in The Baltimore Sun.

Ray entered McDonogh in 1934 as a 12-year-old; he turned 90 on January 29 of this year. Throughout his 45-year career at McDonogh and in his retirement, Ray endeared himself to students and colleagues.

As a McDonogh student, Ray was captain of the 1940 football team and a four-year member of the varsity wrestling team. He was captain for two of those years. Ray graduated from the United States Naval Academy, and, in 1945, served on the battleship USS Texas. Upon his discharge from the Navy in 1947, he returned to McDonogh to teach mathematics and coach wrestling and affect the lives of literally thousands of students. Ray received recognition for his dedication and service with the Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award in 1982. He was inducted into the McDonogh School Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986. In 2001, Ray was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and was the Maryland recipient of the Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award.

Ray Oliver will always be a special part of the McDonogh family, and his legacy will continue with The Raymond B. Oliver Endowed Teaching Chair, established in 1998, and the Ray Oliver Wrestling Tournament, an annual McDonogh event renamed in his honor in 1992.

We encourage you to share your memories of Ray Oliver for posting on the McDonogh website. Please email your remembrances to alumni@mcdonogh.org.

We extend our deepest sympathies to Ray's children, Craig '70 and Vicki, and their families. We hope they take comfort in knowing that Ray is together again with his wife of 63 years, Evelyn, who passed away in March 2011.

For those interested, memorial contributions may be made to McDonogh School or Gilchrist Hospice Care according to the family's wishes.

The fall 1991 issue of McDonogh Magazine was dedicated to Ray Oliver as he retired from his long career. Here are excerpts from reflections of Ray Oliver as a classmate, colleague, teacher, and friend:

“Quietly, Our Loudest Fan”
by former Headmaster William C. Mules
The Ray Oliver that students have known over five decades – so sensitive, so sensible – caring, always encouraging – will, upon his retirement in June, leave an immense void. Ray is the very best, the vintage “Old McDonogh,” who has so enthusiastically led the evolution to the “New McDonogh.” He has silently slipped the moorings of days gone by, while holding to the course set for him and the School by Doc Lamborn. In his own time, he is a Renaissance – and this School and all its students, parents, and faculty will miss – and will fondly remember – this man who has touched all our hearts.

“When You Wish Upon a Star”
by former colleague Cecilia E. Millar
Step into Ray Oliver’s office and you will discover an interesting array of mementos and objets d’art collected over the years: a framed, hand lettered rendering of “The McDonogh Uniform” with border illustrations by his long-time friend and tennis partner, Ed Kenney; an autographed photo of Pam Shriver with a personal message; and – one of my favorites – a small statue of Jiminy Cricket.

It seems to me that Ray Oliver and Jiminy Cricket have a lot of things in common. Each is small of stature but big of heart. Friendly, dapper, gentlemanly, and wise, each possesses an appreciative eye for the ladies and a soft spot for the underdog. And each plays a critical role in the life of his charge: Jiminy as conscience to Pinocchio and Ray as conscience to a school.

Ray’s abiding interest in young people – not only in their minds, but in their characters, in their hearts, and in their physical well-being – marks him as an outstanding educator. Highly respected by his colleagues, deeply appreciated by those past and present students for which he has gone the extra mile, and openly admired as a voice of honor and integrity, Ray Oliver has led hundreds of McDonogh students to live by Jiminy Cricket’s simple but profound motto: “Let your conscience be your guide.”

“Knowing Ray Oliver – A Series of Privileges"
by former classmate Dr. Albert H. Dudley, Jr. ‘40
Ray joined our class in 1934 in the seventh grade, the level at which the majority of scholarship students were then admitted. He withstood the first year indoctrination, described by a career Marine as “more rigorous than boot camp at Parris Island,” without faltering. Before the end of that year, he had gained the respect of student, staff and past faculty giants such as Doug Smink, Mose MacHamer, Murray Campbell, Charles Kinard, Paul Carre, Jim Hall, Bob and Willis Lynch, and the list goes on. It was fascinating to watch the mutually bantering but respectful relationship develop between Ray and his mentors. In fact, as I have seen Ray occasionally in his interchange with today’s students, this same bantering relationship persists to everyone’s benefit.

“Mr. O.”
by former student Jennifer Osborne ‘90
For all of the times in school that I thought that no one noticed, someone did – Mr. O. He knew which students pulled their grades up, and he congratulated you when you did. If you needed help, he saw to it that you got it. – whether you wanted it or not. For all of the students at McDonogh who ever wrestled with a problem, Ray Oliver was there to pin it for you, and for every time you have basked in the glory of an achievement – whether it be passing a math class, winning an MSA title, or even graduating – chances are that it was Mr. O.’s love and strength that got you there.