Raymond Charles Koeller

SAVANNAH – Raymond Charles Koeller, 83, died Friday, January 23, 2009, at Hospice House.
Born in Chicago, Illinois on May 14, 1925, he was a graduate of Gage Park High School. After a year at the University of Illinois in Urbana, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Force where he attended a series of Flight Schools and was commissioned as a Navigator in April 1945. After an Honorable Discharge from the Air Force in February 1946, he returned to the University of Illinois where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering in 1949.
On July 2, 1949 he and Harriette Baker were married. Ray then returned to Graduate School and was awarded his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in August 1952.
Ray took a position with Standard Oil of Indiana and he and Harriette moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma where he began his career in Production Research. He was transferred to the parent company in Chicago in 1962 where he held positions of increasing responsibility in Planning, Economics, Corporate Development, and Financial Analysis.
During the time Ray worked in Chicago the family lived in Wilmette, Illinois for twenty six years where they were members of the Michigan Shores Club, the Wilmette Sailing Club, and the Wilmette Golf Club.
His last position with the company was as Manager of Investor Relations. He retired on September 1, 1988 and he and Harriette retired to The Landings on Skidaway Island in Savannah, GA.
Ray was a lifelong member of the Lutheran Church, and was actively involved in financial management of local congregations at the churches where he belonged.
Ray had maintained an interest in other charitable, social, and service organizations including the Kiwanis Club of Skidaway Island. He was an avid golfer and woodworker.
Harriette and Ray have two sons, Paul R. Koeller Susan who is a geologist holding a senior executive position with Halliburton Organization in Houston, Texas and David M. Koeller Paula who is a physician and Head of Metabolic Disease within the Department of Pediatrics at the Oregon Health Science University in Portland, Oregon.
Ray is also survived by his sister, Mary Louise Matesi Julius of Phoenix, Arizona and a brother, Richard W. Koeller of thousand Oaks, California. He also leaves five grandchildren and his wife of nearly sixty years, Harriette.
A Memorial Service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 7, 2009, at Messiah Lutheran Church on Skidaway Island.
Memorials in his name may be made to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Ascension Heritage Fund, 120 Bull Street, Savannah, Georgia 31401 or Messiah Lutheran Church, 1 West Ridge Road, Savannah, Georgia 31411.