Sunday, March 18, 2007

Obituary: Ramon Coffman - Class of 1914

Ex-columnist `uncle Ray' Dies

Wisconsin State Journal :: Metro/State :: 1B

Monday, June 19, 1989

Ramon Coffman, 92, a former Madison resident whose popular ``Uncle Ray's Corner'' column appeared in The Wisconsin State Journal for 45 years, died Saturday in a Palo Alto, Calif., nursing home.

The column, which ran in newspapers throughout the United States and in several foreign countries, was intended to teach children about science. The column ran in The State Journal from 1925 to 1970. Coffman also wrote 14 books on subjects from science to travel to biographies, and published ``Uncle Ray's Magazine.''

A native of Indianapolis, Coffman spent his boyhood in Madison. He moved to Shorewood Hills in 1935 and lived there until 1949. He later lived in several states but often returned to Madison.

Coffman attended Yale and Columbia universities and the New York College for Social Research. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1927.

Coffman is survived by four children, Gratton, Peyton, Roger and Kathleen Davis. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Note: Ramon Coffman's class year is based on information in the 1914 Tychoberahn.

1 comment:

PetraZ said...

Very interesting to discover that Uncle Ray hailed from Wisconsin! My mother wrote a few letters to Uncle Ray under the pen name "Moira from Eire" in the late 1930's and early 1940's.