Teacher devoted to building homes
3/9/2010STRYKER, Ohio — Raymond Eugene Faler, 67, an industrial-arts teacher whose avocation was building homes and providing lifelong skills to his students, died Saturday in Fort Wayne, Ind., after suffering an apparent heart attack. He was 67.
An avid woodworker, Mr. Faler constructed at least 30 homes in the Williams County area, including two for his own family.
He operated Faler Construction, a home-building and remodeling firm. Many of the homes he built were constructed during the summer with the aid of students from his industrial-arts classes, said his wife, Kay Faler. He also shared his woodworking knowledge with his son, Douglas. “Dad and I had worked together since I was really little,” the younger Mr. Faler said.
“Dad was very meticulous. That relationship we had made me want to go that extra mile” when working on his own projects, Mr. Douglas Faler said. “It wasn't an expectation but an act of respect.”
Mr. Faler was born March 30, 1942, in Montpelier, but moved to Camden, Mich., where he attended school.
He attended Spring Arbor University and Kent State University, and graduated from Bowling Green State University with a goal of becoming a teacher, Mrs. Faler said. “I think he could have done a lot of things,” she said of his career choice. He was always interested in how things worked. “
He taught 32 years, first in the West Unity school district and later with Archbold schools. “He counted at one point that he may have had 50 boys working for him during the years he ran the business,” she said.
He employed some of his former students through college, taking care to accommodate their schedules, his wife said.
He always remembered each student's special projects he had assigned in class. “The boys who graduated from there have lifelong skills,” Mrs. Faler said.
Mr. Faler is survived by his wife, Kay, whom he married June 25, 1966, son, Douglas Faler, daughter, Dawn Follis, mother, Ruth, brother, the Rev. Brad Faler, sisters Cheryl Ussery and Juanita Westman, and five grandchildren.
Visitation is from 1 to 8 p.m. tomorrow at Geesey Funeral Home, Montpelier, with the funeral at 10 a.m. Thursday in Archbold Evangelical Church, Archbold.
Memorials are suggested to the Williams County chapter of Gideons International or to the industrial arts department of Archbold schools.