Raymond died unexpectedly after a very brief encounter with Sepsis on November 3rd, 2022. He was taken out for dinner by his grandson Fraser the Friday before, he spent some time at the Legion on Saturday, then got sick in the middle of the night. He was taken to hospital and passed away four days later. Raymond is survived by his daughter Margot, her husband Russell and their three children Sylvie (fiancé Tony Jackson), Laurel and Fraser, by his son Grant, his wife Elyse and their two children Ocean (partner Jon Thatcher) and Laara (husband John Ho), and by honorary family members Ana and Ryan Larson and their son Max and by Virginie and Robert Chidiac in France. In his generation, he is survived by his brother Bud (Marie), and sister-in-law Diane Touchet and his boyhood friend Bill Salter (Dorothy) in Ontario, plus he leaves behind lots of nieces and nephews. Even though he was physically quite healthy until the end, he never really recovered emotionally from losing Jean, the love of his life and his wife of 62 years, in 2018.

Raymond was delighted to attend the wedding of his granddaughter Laara, who married John Ho in September. He was honoured to buy their wedding rings for them and cut a dapper figure at the wedding in his freshly pressed suit and neatly trimmed moustache. Unfortunately, he did not live long enough to attend the next grandchild’s wedding in May.

Raymond Beaton was a real Burnaby pioneer. He was the son of the “blacksmith of Burnaby,” Billy Beaton, and grew up across the street from Second Street Elementary school in Burnaby, later attending Edmonds Junior High and graduating from Burnaby South Senior Secondary School. Born into the teeth of the Depression, his early years were tough. Luckily, they were able to grow much of the food they ate – they grew potatoes and had a hen house, so “spuds and eggs” played a large role in the family’s diet in those days.

While his early childhood was tough, his teenage years were good. He had a wonderful group of friends in high school and in addition to the usual teenage escapades, they enjoyed playing Bridge and were part of the Four B’s club – Beethoven, Brahms, Bach and Boogie. Outside of school, Raymond was very involved in the local branch of Teen Town and even wrote a column for the Columbian Newspaper on the Teen Town goings-on.

After high school, Raymond worked at lots of sales-related jobs, and he worked for a while as a clerk aboard the Union Steamships, the boats that serviced the small communities up and down the coast of British Columbia in the days before the BC Ferries.

It was while doing that job that he had a brilliant stroke of luck. The boat he was supposed to sail on had to stay in dock for repairs. Raymond had been scheduled to sail that day but instead he had a free day in Vancouver. He and a friend decided to attend a dance in downtown Vancouver. There he caught the eye of a pretty, young teacher named Jean who had attended on a whim. They were having a lovely time until Jean learned what Ray did for a living. Coming from one of those small coastal towns, she had grown up hearing about being careful around the Union Steamship sailors. She was, therefore, very skeptical about being invited out for a date by this young sailor. Being an excellent salesman, he managed to convince her of his good intentions by inviting her to attend church with him in Vancouver the next morning. They never attended a service at that church again, but they did get married a couple of years later and stayed happily married until death did them part in 2018.

Life for Ray and Jean was happy and busy. They were raised their two children, had a vigorous social life with lots of friends, and loved having people over for Bridge parties and dinner parties. Raymond wanted to start his own business, so he taught himself screen printing and used it and his woodworking skills to start building sales displays in the basement. Eventually Jean went back to teaching and Ray started Kodiak Signs, a sign and display business he – and later, the two of them – owned and ran until they sold it in 1978.

Raymond stayed busy after selling Kodiak Signs. He sold memberships in the Burnaby Chamber of Commerce for a while, then decided he wanted more active work, so went back to school to learn small engine mechanics, and worked repairing lawn mowers, string trimmers, leaf blowers, and other domestic power tools. He also volunteered as Father Christmas (NOT Santa Claus!) at the Burnaby Village Museum for years and grew his own long white beard after he decided that he didn’t like the fake one the Village provided. He grew garlic crops every year in the community garden and made Tea Boxes in his wood shop to sell at the Burnaby Christmas Craft fair every November. This life was perfect for him, because it left them free to travel in the winters; after the kids grew up, Raymond and Jean towed their fifth-wheel trailer to California for two months every winter for about 15 years, and always delighted in the warm winters and being able to step outside and pick a couple of oranges off a tree to have with breakfast.

Raymond learned about a concept called Co-Housing in the 1990’s, and he and Jean were very early members of the Windsong Co-Housing community in Langley. They made many friends and had a very interesting time there. Eventually, though, Burnaby called them home. They lived in a townhouse, hosting block parties and making friends with many of their neighbours, until with Jean’s declining health it became clear that they needed more help. They moved into the Poppy Residences Independent Living building and stayed there with help from Poppy staff and family until their passing.

Raymond’s ashes will be added to Jean’s grave in a private family service in the Spring.

If you wish to make a donation in Raymond’s memory, please consider making one to your local food bank.