Raymond John Cynar

Raymond John Cynar, age 78, died Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at Orange Coast Memorial hospital in Fountain Valley, CA. He was born January 23, 1940 in Cleveland, Ohio, son of the late John and Caroline (née: Olszewski) Cynar. He was preceded in death by his son Randolph Cynar who passed in 1992 and his younger brother Terry who passed in 2016. He is survived by his wife Sandra (née: Bowers), his son Mark, his daughter Tamera Harbicht (née: Cynar) and her two sons Patrick and Robert Harbicht.

Ray and Sandy coached soccer and baseball teams for Mark. Raymond volunteered in Mark’s sixth grade class and went on field trips including to Olvera Street. His niece Roni Allen (née: Bowers) was like a daughter and her children Ryan and Ashli were like grandchildren. He and Ryan were so close when Ryan was a preschooler that Ryan thought he was a large kid. He always took Ashli to play in the park when we were at Ryan’s soccer games. She didn’t like soccer then.

His first thirteen years were in Cleveland. His parents moved to California and he was skipped a grade because he was ahead of the education system here. He played basketball in high school. His parents couldn’t afford tennis shoes so he used some old ones from another player that didn’t fit him. His toes were bleeding every game but he was so happy to be able to play that he ignored it. He had a job at the original In-N-Out on Garvey when he was at Rosemead High School. After graduating from high school in 1957 Raymond joined the Army at the age of 17. He became an MP in preparation for a career in law enforcement. He worked at the Pacific Railroad until he was 21. He then applied to the LAPD and graduated from the LAPD Academy and was appointed on October 10, 1962. He worked Central and Hollywood Vice and was promoted to Sergeant at a young age. They called him the “baby sergeant”. He had a busy career working Central beats, Vice twice, Internal Affairs, Accident Investigation, Detectives, the Jail, and served as a Captain’s Adjutant (not in that order). After 20 years he retired on March 6, 1982, his wedding anniversary. He then had careers at ARCO and McDonnell Douglas in security. Then he had a career in real estate with 21st Century and sold the house across the street to our neighbors Elizabeth and Ed. He finally retired completely in 1996. Then he took several long trips on his beloved Harley Davidson. He went to the Salton Sea, down route 66, to Palm Springs and up to Yosemite to mention a few.

Raymond and Sandy lived in the same apartment complex and met there around the pool in 1964. They were married on March 6, 1965. In 1968 they bought their house. Then September 22, 1970 their son Mark was born. Raymond worked several extra jobs, including Tommy’s Burgers security, the Rose Parade, and Los Caballeros Country Club security, so Sandy could stay home with Mark until he went to kindergarten. He and his wife and son travelled extensively including cruises to Mexico, Alaska, the Caribbean and trips to Tahiti and Europe. They also went to the redwoods, Yosemite and camping in the local mountains. After their son reached the age of 18 Raymond and Sandy continued travelling. There were several cruises including the Panama Canal in both directions Hawaii, the Amazon River, the Baltics, Cape Horn and Cape Cod and trips to Hawaii, Cancun and Acapulco. In 1989 they were lucky enough to spend 4th of July in Washington DC as part of a long road trip around the country from CA to Key West then up to Maine and back across to home. They went on a Civil War trip visiting the major battlefields and cities. Off again they drove through the south including Kentucky, Tennessee and New Orleans. They then took a trip up to Vancouver BC Canada, over to Idaho, the Dakotas and Wyoming to see the northwest U.S. Their last trip was a cruise along the Siene River, France with friends Diane and Dale Haakenson in 2012.

Raymond was always physically active. He played in handball and racquetball tournaments at the LAPD Academy. He ran all three of the dogs they owned until they could no longer run. Raymond started Mark at the gym with weightlifting when he was 15, they ran at Golden West College regularly and they took very long bike rides together. He also had a weight room at the house. Raymond and Sandy started kickboxing in March of 2000 for their 35th anniversary. They were, of course, the elders in all of the gyms they kicked at including Kaden, OC kickboxing & MMA, HB Ultimate Training Center and CKO Kickboxing. They continued kickboxing for 16 ½ years until November 2016.

Interment is scheduled for 1:00 pm, on August 20, 2018, at Westminster Memorial Park 14801 Beach Blvd. Westminster, California 92683