Raymond Francis Millar

Raymond Francis Millar, 96, of Bemidji, MN passed away November 10, 2018 at Neilson Place, Bemidji.

Funeral Services will be 2:00 p.m. Saturday, November 17, 2018 at Trinity Free Lutheran Church of Pony Lake with Pastor Kevin Larson and Pastor Bill Goodman officiating. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will be in Trinity Free Lutheran Church Cemetery of Pony Lake. Arrangements were entrusted to the Olson-Schwartz Funeral Home, Bemidji.

Ray was born at home in Shevlin, MN on April 13, 1922 to David and Ella (Klingbeil) Millar. He moved to Pinewood at the age of 4 and at the age of 15 he went to the CC Camp in Cass Lake. At 17 he and his brother Paul worked on a farm in Funkley and then on to North Dakota to harvest fields. At 20 he entered the U.S. Navy and was honorably discharged in 1945 as a Signalman Second Class Petty Officer. He married Valeria Barge in 1946 in Wilton. They had two sons, Leon and Gerald. They lived in Liberty Township where he was a farmer and logger. In 1956 they moved to Biwabik and then to Hoyt Lakes where he worked for Eire Mining. They returned to Liberty Township in 1970 where he worked at Northern Farm and Garden then Bemidji State University for 15 years until his retirement. Valeria passed away in 1986. Ray married Thelma (Hinkel) Rice in 1987, she passed away in 2011. He was a member and deacon of Trinity Free Lutheran Church of Pony Lake and American Legion 438 George Bruun Post of Pinewood.

He is survived by his sisters, Elsie (Mike) Kuykendall of Fredericksburg, TX and (step) children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; wives, Valeria and Thelma; sons, Leon and Gerald; brothers, Edward, Walter, Paul, Leslie, Steve and Weldon and sister, Myrtle.

Online guestbook at www.OlsonSchwartzFuneralHome.com

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