| Ray Chavez | |
 Ray Chavez at the age of 104 | |
| Birth: | 10 March 1912 San Bernardino, California, USA |
| Death: | 21 November 2018 Poway, California, USA |
| Age: | 106 years, 256 days |
| Country: |  USA
|
| Centenarian | |
Raymond "Ray" Barron Chavez (10 March 1912 – 21 November 2018) was an American centenarian who was the oldest living Pearl Harbor survivor at time of his death.
Biography
Ray Chavez was born in San Bernardino, California, USA on 10 March 1912, the son of Mexican immigrants.
He married Margaret Specht in 1935 and had one daughter Margaret Gibson (born 1937).
At 27, in 1938, he joined the Navy and was stationed with the minesweeper Condor at Pearl Harbor. On 7 December 1941, he was a seaman first class, after the attack, he spent the next nine days on continuous duty in and around Pearl Harbor.
In 1956, his daughter Margaret Gibson, his son-in-law William Howard Gibson and his 18-month-old granddaughter Mary Kathleen Gibson were killed in a car accident. In 1957, he adopted one daughter Kathleen Chavez, who lived in a San Diego orphanage. He got widowed in 1989.
He spent 30 years as a groundskeeper at the University of California, San Diego, and then ran his own landscaping and grounds keeping business in the Poway area until he retired at the age of 96.
In 2016, he participated in a ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii. In May 2018, he met President Donald Trump during a Memorial Day celebration at the White House.
Ray Chavez died in Poway, California, USA on 21 November 2018 at the age of 106 years, 256 days. He was survived by his adopted daughter Kathleen Chavez.
References
- Oldest Known Pearl Harbor Survivor, 104, Returns to Honor the Fallen NBC News, 6 December 2016
- Ray Chavez, Oldest Living Veteran Survivor of Pearl Harbor Celebrates 105th Birthday NBC San Diego, 10 March 2017
- Ray Chavez, 106, is the oldest living Pearl Harbor survivor! SilverEco, 20 March 2018
- Ray Chavez, US oldest Pearl Harbor survivor, has died CNN, 24 November 2018
- Raymond Barron Chavez Find A Grave
- Raymond B Chavez BillionGraves
- Ray Chavez Obituary Walker Funeral Homes
