Raymond Edmund "Ebby" Scheer

Raymond Edmund (Ebby) Scheer, 102, of Tallahassee, died January 25, 2019 after a full and fruitful life. Ebby was born in Lacon, Illinois, the son of Raymond A. Scheer and Millie Kennedy Scheer. His grandfather, Frederick Theodore Scheer, served in the Union Army in the Civil War. Ebby graduated from Sullivan, Illinois High School in 1934 and Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois in 1938, where he played on the varsity football and basketball teams along-side future NFL Hall of Famer George Musso. In January 1938, Ebby married his college sweetheart, Dorothy ("Dot") Henderson.

His first job after college was as a high school math and physics teacher in Illiopolis, Illinois, where he also served as head coach of the football, basketball and track teams, all for an annual salary of $1,350. Ebby worked as a supervisor in a Johnson and Johnson munitions factory in Illiopolis before joining the U.S. Navy in 1944, serving as Executive Officer on the USS LST 861. He joined LST 861 on its maiden voyage in New Orleans, then sailing through the Panama Canal on its way to the Pacific Theater. LST 861 made its way to the Palau Islands, Tacloban in the Philippines, and on to Okinawa where Ebby celebrated VJ Day. A late 1945 mission repatriating Japanese soldiers stranded on Pacific islands to the Yokohama, Japan naval base allowed Ebby to make two visits to Tokyo. A highlight of Ebby's 100th birthday celebration was a surprise American flag presentation by an honor guard from the local U.S. Navy Reserve Center following a ceremonial passing of the flag. Along with the flag, the honor guard presented Ebby with a shadow box containing a photograph of LST 861.

Following the War, he worked in the brick and concrete business for a number of years in Alton, Illinois and Cleveland, Ohio, and then moved to Leesburg, Florida in 1958. Dorothy Scheer passed away in early 1959. After a first date on Labor Day, on Thanksgiving Day 1959 Ebby married the second love of his life, Kathleen Rolph Boyd. He returned to teaching in 1965, and received his master's degree in chemistry and physics from the University of Wyoming in 1969. He taught science at Leesburg High School for a number of years, where his sons had the unique experience of having their father for their Physics teacher. After retiring in 1981, Ebby and Kathleen traveled extensively throughout the United States, and then moved to Tallahassee in 1987 to be close to their family. Ebby and Kathleen were charter members of Tallahassee's Christ Presbyterian Church, with Ebby serving as deacon and elder. Following the death of Kathleen in 2014, Ebby became a resident of Westminster Oaks in 2015. He was also preceded in death by his daughter, Dee Scheer.

Ebby is survived by his children Kathy Atkins-Gunter (Bill), Linda Huey, Everett Boyd (Valorie), and Sandy Scheer, all of Tallahassee, and Harris Boyd (Debi) of Roswell, GA; grandchildren Rett Boyd (Ransey), Blair Boyd (Elizabeth), Michael Albl, Karen Albl Gray (Kenny), Scott Baker, Melinda Baker (Lee Trotman), Chris Baker, Michael Huey, Michele Huey Proctor (David), Allison Huey Coleman (Jason), and Sarah Kathleen Huey Wiley (Jonathan), all of Tallahassee, and Tina Boyd of Greenville, South Carolina, Ian Boyd of Atlanta, Georgia, Sam Weintraub of Roswell, Georgia, Doug Albl (Lisa) of Fayetteville, North Carolina, Brad Turner (Maria) of Lithia, Florida, and Barbara Rice Gipson (Bill) of Virginia Beach, Virginia; great-grandchildren Peyton Boyd, Everett Boyd IV, Britton Blair Boyd, Aden Kate Boyd, John Coy Boyd, Thomas Coleman, Katherine Coleman, Sarah Allison Proctor, Anna Proctor, Sumner Wiley, Owen Wiley, Julia Baker, Arden Baker, Madison Baker, and Tamara Gray James (David), all of Tallahassee, and Kearce Baker and Cole Gray (Kali) of Sneads, Florida, Zachary Baker of Battle Creek, Michigan, Avery Albl of Stonington, Connecticut, Dustin Rice (Candace) of Chesapeake, Virginia, Joshua Rice of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Trey Turner (Sarah) and Lane Turner of Lithia, Florida; and great-great grandchildren Bear Gatlin James of Tallahassee and Skylar Rice and Blake Rice of Chesapeake, Virginia.

Burial at the National Cemetery in Tallahassee will be March 1, 2019 at 1pm.

For friends wishing to make a memorial donation, the family suggests donations to Big Bend Hospice or Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare Foundation.