Raymond Roy Wagener

Raymond R. Wagener, of Las Ventanas Retirement Center in Las Vegas, passed away peacefully on July 22, 2016. Ray was born July 18, 1923 to Arthur and Mary Wagener in Horicon, WI. He graduated from Horicon High School in 1941 and received scholarships to attend Whitewater Teachers College. While there, he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps on November 11, 1942. During his WWII service, he attended The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Yale University in New Haven and spent two years in the Pacific Theater. He returned to Whitewater in 1946 and graduated in 1948. He taught high school math and coached for three years in Wausau, WI. In 1951, while attending a summer session at Columbia University, he was recalled to active duty by the USAF. He loved flying and decided on an Air Force career. In 1958, after flying in many of the AF’s bomber type aircraft, he was accepted into the B-58 test program. The B-58 was the USAF’s first Mach 2 supersonic bomber. He flew many test missions and when the aircraft was declared ‘operational’, he was selected to be a member of its first operational three man crew. In 1961, the Edwards AFB, CA, crew set six world speed records. That May, the crew retraced Lindberg’s New York to Paris flight. The 3 hour 19 minutes flight gained them two more world speed records. It also earned an invitation for Ray and Lucille to attend a White House Rose Garden ceremony. President Kennedy greeted them personally and presented trophies to the crew. While a college freshman, Ray met Lucille A. Wagner of Antigo WI. They were married on Boca Raton Army Air Base, Florida on July 29, 1944. They had three children; Susan Czerski, North Pole Alaska; Mary McCrary, Las Vegas, NV; and William Wagener, Suwanee, GA. He was preceded in death by his wife Lucille and sisters Pearl and Alice. He is survived by his children, grandchildren – Will and Kristin Wagener, Ryan and Sean Pulaski, Scott and Mark McCrary – and a brother Lloyd Wagener of Horicon, WI. In 1969, Ray and the family drove the Alaskan Highway to Eielson AFB just outside of North Pole, Alaska. In 1974, he retired from the Air Force with 32 years of service, built a house in the woods, and for the next 25 years that became his adopted home. Then, in 1999, he and Lucille began staying full time in Las Vegas. In 1980 he was elected to the Athletic Hall of Fame at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. He was elevated to a 33rd degree Mason in 1995. He is a member and past master of Tanana Masonic Lodge, Fairbanks, AK; worked extensively with the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls in Alaska, and is a member of the Zelzah Shrine in Las Vegas and the Royal Order of Jesters in Las Vegas.