RAYMOND WALL, JR., 1926-2013

Raymond Wall, Jr., 1926-2013, WWII Navy veteran spent career in sales

6/21/2013

Raymond Wall, Jr., a salesman who loved to dance, died Thursday at Kingston Residence of Sylvania. He was 86.

He had prostate cancer, but his daughter, Beth Brickman, said he was also deeply affected by the loss of his wife, Ellen, five months ago. “I think he died of a broken heart,” she said. “He's just been declining ever since she died.”

Mr. Wall met his wife in the mid-1940s, at a dance and they married in 1949.

Mr. Wall’s sister, Julie Etzel, who married his best friend, Bill Etzel, said she remembers hearing about that dance long after it ended.

“He came home smitten. That’s all I know, because we just kept hearing about Ellen after that,” Ms. Etzel said.

The couple often went to dance clubs in the 1950s and 1960s.

“They had a wonderful time,” Ms. Etzel said. “My brother was a very, very good dancer.”

Mr. Wall was part of a group of lifelong friends that organized a club called “Mystic Knights of the Sea,” which included poker night gatherings once a month.

Mr. Wall’s wife was a member of the well-known Savage family, who started one of the first self-service grocery stores in the area.

Her brother, John F. Savage, was a business executive, public speaker, and University of Toledo trustee who died in 1993. Robert Savage, another brother, was co-founder with John of a financial services firm.

The latter Savage was also a former Toledo vice mayor.

Mrs. Wall’s parents, Kathryn and John M. Savage, had nine children.

Raymond Wall and Ellen Savage Wall spent much time with their many nieces and nephews.

“She got a lot of notoriety from [the family name] and my dad, he kind of just took it all in, and he was a great dad and a great uncle. He kind of embraced his role in the family,” Ms. Brickman said.

He was born July 22, 1926, to Clara and Raymond Wall, Sr., in Toledo.

He attended Central Catholic High School until he was drafted and joined the Navy in 1943.

After serving in World War II, he worked for Willys Overland Motors.

Shortly after, in the 1960s, he began a career in retail sales with Buckeye Specialties, the warehousing and distribution arm of the Seaway Food Town supermarket chain, followed by employment with Food Town, where he also worked in sales.

Mr. Wall retired in the early 1990s, and the couple spent winters in Florida.

Surviving are his sons, Tim and Kevin; daughter, Beth Brickman; sister, Julie Etzel, and 10 grandchildren.

Visitation is 2-8 p.m. today at Ansberg West Funeral Home. Services are at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Christ the King Catholic Church.

The family suggests tributes to Hospice of Northwest Ohio or Christ the King Church.

Contact Kelly McLendon at: kmclendon@theblade.com, 419-724-6522, or on Twitter @KMcBlade.