My Uncle Raymond died last week. My Dad told me about it on Saturday. Raymond was 79, two years younger than my Dad. This is the third brother Dad has lost. He has one brother and a sister left.
Raymond had lung cancer and emphysema for years and years. Of all the Okie relatives I was probably closest to Raymond and his family. They lived just up the road from my grandparents and had two kids roughly my age. I was also close to Aunt Phoebe's family but they lived in town so I spent a lot of time at Raymond's.
I was in contact with an old family friend this weekend . She and her husband were very close to my parents until they divorced in 1975. I was surprised to hear that Mrs. T had tried to stay in contact with my Aunt Irene. Mrs. T asked about here and I had to tell her that Irene killed herself a decade ago.
My mother and both her sisters all died within about 2 years of each other. It really is sobering to think about how quickly I am losing family members.
Below is a link to Raymond's obit. Check out the language. Very different tone from what we see in urban East Coast papers.
http://www.meaningfulfunerals.net/fh/print.cfm?type=obituary&o_id=336938&fh_id=11788&s_id=76CE942925A714D7472831EFE1CC7F72
