Raymond C. Fearnow, Jr.

Raymond C. Fearnow, Jr. was a hardworking man who did what it took to provide for his family. His greatest accomplishment in his life was having his family and his second greatest accomplishment was not only building a 3,600 square foot house, it was building a family home.

In the first part of 1941, the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt began his third term and rumors of attacks on Pearl Harbor and World War II to begin, the citizens of the United States were all in tune to the news. With this happening, the greatest news that Raymond C. and Nora A. (Brown) Fearnow had was the announcement of their second born child, Raymond C. Fearnow, Jr. on February 9, 1941 when he was born in Wabash, Indiana. Raymond grew up on the family farm near Lagro, Indiana along with his siblings, Phillip, Steven and Camilla.

He graduated as Valedictorian at Lagro High School in 1959 and went on to serve in the U.S. Army. On a day that would change his life forever, he met Rose Marie Masbaum at a gift shop. The two would eventually be married on October 3, 1963 at S.S. Peter and Paul Catholic Church where Rose had been a member. They lived in Huntington until 1975 when they moved to the Columbia City area and built their 18 room home on Tri-Lakes. The entire family worked together and he was proud of building everything on the house excluding the chimney. He taught his children how to appreciate what they had by working hard to achieve it. They would travel around and repurpose old barn siding, removing and straitening the nails to use in building their home.

Raymond worked at International Harvester for nearly 18 years before the company left Ft. Wayne. He went to work in sheet metal at Pettigrew and Sons in Fort Wayne and would retire from maintenance at General Electric in the early 90's.

Besides spending time with his family, Raymond enjoyed scuba diving, boating, fishing, hunting and summer trips to Lake Michigan and Minnesota. He even made one memorable trip driving to Alaska and back with his parents and youngest son. Raymond also was a gun collector and a proud supporter of the National Rifle Association.

On the afternoon of Sunday, December 31, 2017, Raymond's family heard the news that he passed away unexpectedly at his home. He leaves behind his loving children, Tim (Tam) Fearnow, Kristine (Jay) Straub, Melinda (Aaron) Woll, Erik (Melissa) Fearnow, all of Columbia City and Scott (Ruth) Fearnow, of Ft. Wayne; brothers, Phil (Judy) Fearnow, of Marion and Steve (Nancy) Fearnow, of Roann; sister, Camilla Fearnow, of North Manchester; 11 grandchildren, Alyssa Fearnow, Heath (Elena) Fearnow, Wesley Straub, Evan Staub, Cole Straub, Jacob Straub, Shamon (Dave) Ruckman, Alec Woll, Hailey Woll, Austin (Sarah) Fearnow and Blake Fearnow; and four great-grandchildren, Malleena, Rease, Dawson, and David Duane. He was preceded in death by his parents, Raymond C. Sr. and Nora A. Fearnow and former wife who passed away on November 27, 2016, Rose Marie Fearnow.

Visitation is 4-8 p.m. Thursday, January 4, 2018 at DeMoney-Grimes, a Life Story Funeral Home, 600 Countryside Drive, Columbia City with a Rosary starting at 3:30 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10 a.m. Friday at St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Church, 315 S Line St, Columbia City with visitation one hour prior. Father Gary Sigler will officiate. Burial to follow at St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Cemetery. Memorial gifts may be given in his memory to St Paul of the Cross Catholic Church. Visit www.demoneygrimes.com to send family condolences online.