Ray Kirby, 88, passed away peacefully on June 5th, 2020 at home in Woodland Hills, California. He was born and raised in Pomona, CA.
Ray’s name growing up was Leland Ray Jones; when he went into the military, it was changed to Ray Kirby. He was a Korean War Veteran. He had been married at a young age and had two sons, Lyle Wayne and Dale Wesley. In 1954, he married Margaret Beryl Larabee of Pacific Palisades. They raised their two children, Ruth Eileen and Ray Edward in the Pacific Palisades area.
Ray worked in aerospace for almost his entire career and retired from Northrup in 1994. During his career, he applied his artistic talent and helped in the design of various components, including some for the B2 aircraft. In retirement, Ray continued his artistic endeavors by painting landscapes of similar natural scenes.
Ray is preceded in death by his loving wife Margaret and his son Lyle Wayne. He is survived by his son Dale Wesley Boyd of Washington, Ruth Dean of Woodland Hills, and Ray Edward Kirby of Palm Desert. He has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A Celebration of Ray’s life is being planned. More information will be posted here when arrangements are made.
Military
- Army Medical Corps (Korean Conflict): Jan 1949 – Feb 1952
- Basic training at Fort Ord, CA; Medical Training at Brooks Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, TX. After he completed his schooling and became a Medical Corpsman, he was sent to Letterman General Hospital, Presidio, San Francisco, CA. His basic duty was working at the hospital, but on occasion, he worked on the Hospital Train. When they had enough patients in from overseas, they were put on military railroad hospital cars and transported to various places in the U.S., such as, Walter Reed Army Hospital, Washington DC and Brooks Army Med. Center, Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, TX. He took care of these patients while they were being transported.
- While he was at Letterman General, the spousal allotments were cut; because of this he was transferred into the Inactive Reserves. When the spousal allotments were reinstated, he was recalled to Active Duty, Nov 1950.
- In Nov. of 1950, he was sent to Fort Lewis, Tacoma, WA, for refresher training; then, to Fort Ord, CA, to work as a medic there.
- He was home on leave for Christmas 1950. When he came back from leave, he was sent to Fort Lewis to be shipped overseas with a field hospital out of Tacoma, WA. At that time it was not known whether they were going to Japan or Korea. When they crossed the International Dateline, the final orders were opened; they were for Japan.
- The biggest part of 1951, was spent working in a hospital in Tokyo, Japan. The latter part of 1951, he came back from Japan; and returned to inactive duty. He was unable to find work, only small jobs that didn’t last; so he decided to join the Air Force. When he notified the Army Reserve, they discharge him.
- His time served in the Air Force was from Feb 1952 – Feb 1956, at March Air Force Base, Riverside, CA
Education
- Hamilton Elementary School, Pomona, CA: Sep 1937 – Jun 1938
- Roosevelt Elementary School, Pomona, CA: Sep 1938 – Jun 1939
- Hamilton Elementary School, Pomona, CA: Sep 1939 – Jun 1945
- Fremont Jr. High School, Pomona, CA: Sep 1945 – Jun 1948
- Art Center School of Design, 1956-1959 (more than 3 years), Los Angeles, CA; majored in Transportation Design; minored in Product Design.
Career
- After Art Center School of Design, worked for North American Rocketdyne Division, Van Nuys, CA Renners, West LA, CA
- Ralph M. Parsons, downtown Los Angeles, CA, Nov 1961 – Feb 1967
- TRW for three years, Redondo Beach, CA
- Hughes Helicopter for one year, Culver City, CA
- Northrop, Aircraft Division, Art Dept., Hawthorne, CA, industrial artist; then transferred to the Flight Test Dept.; later he was promoted to the B2 Division, Pico Rivera, CA, as an Engineer Specialist. He worked for Northrop for 23 years, from 15 Nov 1971 until his retirement in 1 Jul 1994.
- After retiring in 1994, he worked for Santa Monica Ford (12 plus years) as a driver, delivering cars and making trades.
