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Curtis Ray Proffitt of Weaverville passed away on June 20, 2022, at the age of 95 after a short illness.
Ray was born on Sept. 18, 1926, in Long Beach, Calif., to Curtis Reighns and Alice Emma Proffitt. He attended George Washington Elementary School, Enterprise Jr. High, and Compton High School. He was in 12th grade when he met his future wife, Mary Jane, when they both got war jobs on the school campus. Their first date was a hayride in which Mary asked Ray to … which was the beginning of a wonderful courtship.
In his youth Ray’s father, who worked in the oil fields, would drop Ray off at the beach in Long Beach to fish, and on weekends, his father and uncle would set off to the desert to hunt. The family always had fresh fish and rabbits to eat.
Ray’s mother was a skilled seamstress, and taught him to sew, which later in life came in handy, as he worked with canvas and sail cloth, making his own pack mule saddle bags, various canvas bags and sailing accessories for his boats. He also made his own crab pots, and rings. Yet another hidden talent, he could play a mean boggie woggie on the piano if you could talk him into it.
After high school he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and was sent to Montana. In November of 1945, shortly after World War II ended, he was discharged.
It was in December of 1945 he asked his high school sweetheart, Mary Jane, to marry him. They were married in June of 1946, in Los Angeles.
After his marriage, Ray worked various jobs in machine and equipment shops. He eventually began a career with the state of California. He was a State Hunter and Trapper from 1951 through 1954, and a State Fish and Game Warden from 1954 through 1981.
In 1954 he moved his family of three, daughter Janet in tow, from the city to the wilds of Happy Camp, living in an unfinished cabin on the banks of the Klamath River. The next year they moved to Weaverville, where two more daughters were born, Jody and Jennifer. In the late 1950s, alongside his carpenter father-in-law, they built the family home, where he would live the rest of his life.
Ray’s job as a warden was the perfect fit for him, and his family. He used his knowledge and skills, packing his horses and mules into the Trinity Alps, oftentimes taking family friends and on occasion dignitaries, which would all be treated to not only the beauty of the Alps, but a wonderful gourmet meal cooked on an open fire. Dessert was on the menu for special dignitaries, which usually included chocolate-covered grasshoppers and worms.
Many hunting and fishing trips with his lifelong friends — Keith, Bob and Roy — were enjoyed. In his later years, Ray would tell wonderful stories at family dinners of all the exciting and eventful happenings from the trips in the back country, desert, rivers and the ocean.
As a young family he taught his daughters snow and water skiing along with fishing and hunting skills. Trinity and Lewiston lakes were the family camp spots for staycations. Along with winter ski trips to Yosemite, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Ashland and Lassen ski parks.
His work encounters included a gun battle in a restaurant in which the perpetrator and a CHP officer lost their lives, numerous searches for lost people in the wilderness, supplying aid to people snowed-in in places without easy access, aerial fish plants in the Trinity Alps, elk release projects, and bear relocation adventures, to name a few. He oftentimes would give the local youth a second chance with their choice of fishing and hunting ethics.
After his retirement in 1981, Ray and his family took up sailing. Keel boat racing and cruising. He became a member of the Whiskeytown Sailing Club, and with patience (most of the time) and perseverance taught himself to race. He didn’t always win, but was the one that sailed smart, using every shift, using every lift to get him to the mark sooner. He became the sailor of slow boats the other sailors watched. His walls and shelves are filled with his racing accomplishments from Whiskeytown regattas, and Konocti Cup races at Clear Lake. His wife, daughters, son- in-law, and a few of his fellow sailors always enjoyed crewing the races with him. When he wasn’t racing he was cruising the San Juan Islands and Canadian waters. He sailed until he was 90, finally putting his sails away, with lots of memories to share.
Ray was preceded in death by his wife Mary Jane; and is survived by his sister, Nancy Benson of Kalispell, Mont.; children Janet (Jock) Morrison of Walla Walla, Wash., Jody Brown and Jennifer Flint of Weaverville; grandchildren Estella Hughes (Duncan), Joseph Cloud (Nichole), Perry Cloud (Amanda), and Megan Ryan, and six great-grandchildren, Trevor, Cody, David, Troy, Rylnn and Memphis.
He lived a good life, and was loved deeply by his family and friends.
A memorial service, open to the public, will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22, at the Northern California Veterans Cemetery in Igo, Calif.
Memorial donations can be made to the Trinity County Scholarship Foundation, P.O. Box 2000, Weaverville, CA 96093.
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