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Deceased Classmate: RAYMOND PAUL CREVIER
Date Of Birth: APRIL-28-1922
Date Deceased: DEC.-29-1994
Age at Death: 72
Cause of Death: DIED OF BRAIN CANCER
Classmate City: CLASS OF 1940
Classmate State: AA
Classmate Country: USA
Was a Veteran: No Air Force
Survived By: HIS CHILDREN ALL GRADUATES OF JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL.MARTIN PASSED AWAY CLASS OF 1967, MAURICE 1968, MARC 1969, THERESA,1970, RAY JR, 1972, TANYA, 1973, KAREN,1974, BETH,1976,BERT,1978,ANN,1981, BRUCE,1983, JANINE,1984
HE WAS A TEST PILOT AND FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR IN WWII AND WENT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA AND MAJORED IN AIRINAUTICAL ENGINEERING. HE WAS PRECEEDED IN DEATH BY HIS WIFE PATRICIA AND HIS ELDEST SON MARTIN.
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Bert Bryan Crevier (1978)
I can remember on many occasions he would give me flight instruction before school,(We would get up real early in the, A.M. THIS IS WHERE WE WOULD HAVE SOME GOOD FAHTER SON TALKS! before school and work.) I would hear my Dad throw his shoes out of his room and his shoes would hit the floor with a thud,( I used to get up and shine his shoes before work.) and the thud meant, shine his shoes before work and school, and we were off for a flight lesson.! If I was not ready on time he would leave me. HE WAS GONE! HE LEFT ME! This only happen one time, that I can remember, and it never happened again. THIS GETTING LEFT BEHIND, ALWAYS MADE ME ON TIME! ON ONE OF OUR TALKS HE SAID(" KEEP YOUR SHOES SHINNED, A CLEAN HAIR CUT, CLEAN FINGER NAILS, AND A CLEAN MIND, ALWAYS BE ON TIME"!) "and no matter what always stand up, for your brothers and sisters, in school, what ever the cost! He once said to me, "IF YOU EVER START SOMETHING, NEVER, NEVER, EVER, EVER, GIVE UP, IN ANYTHING YOU DO! NEVER BE A SOMEONE WHO QUITS! WHEN YOU START SOMETHING FINISH IT! This has left a LONG LASTING IMPRESSION ON ME, TO THIS DAY! ! It becomes part of your DNA, WHO YOU really are!
This duty is what got me in trouble in school, different times when I was growing up. One time their were some trouble makers picking on my younger brother BRUCE! They were kicking him and pushing him down and rubbing his face in the snow! IN A FLASH I WAS REMEMBERING, WHAT MY DAD SAID, ALL I COULD THINK ABOUT WAS A LOYALTY THAT MY DAD HAD TAUGHT US, HOW HE AND MOM, HAD INSTILLED IN ME, a sence of sticking up for one another! I STOPED THIS EVENT AND ALL THE SUDDEN I WAS IN TROUBLE WITH THE SUPERINTENDANT. Everybody was gone and my little brother was happy. That is all that I cared about. EVERYONE that was left around me, all LOOKED IN HORROR, in what I HAD DONE to STOP THIS event! They were TERRIFIED, on WHAT HAD TAKEN PLACE ! All I new was that my little brother was o.k., and latter that evening, MY DAD WAS VERY HAPPY ABOUT THE EVENT, FOR THE WAY I HAD STOPED ALL THIS ! Mom was not to happy, BUT AS THEY SAY IN THE HISTORY BOOKS " THE REST IS HISTORY"! I FEARED more about NOT doing the right thing with my DAD, then anything else! and not only that, If I did not settle this he WOULD! ( WITH OR WITHOUT ME!!!) He would come home and say" WHERE WERE YOU"?, WHEN THIS HAPPENED"?, and how come you did not help OUT! ? THAT was not the case! ( This was one of our talks on the way to a flight lesson!)
After the flight lesson he would land in our field near our home north of Jefferson South Dakota, and he would leave me off in our field after my flight lesson, so I could go to school. I remember watching him take off and fly away to Martin field, so he could go to work. Those were some pretty good memories.( When we would fly, He would take the controls of the Aircraft, and I felt that the Aircraft became alive, like it had a living soul,the controls would move in a manner that you would not think would be natural to a pilot. (The plane took on a different personality. I have never known this to happen in all my 40 years of flying, as a professional Pilot (from 1974-2014 to presentday!) (accept flying with my Dad ) and I felt it was a GOD THING! ( I felt this was a GOD given mantle that my Dad aqiured of some sort, that could only come from HEAVEN!)
Another time when I was in high school I can remember helping the local farmers in the area for higher. I was helping them put togehter irrigation watering systems in their fields. One day we were putting up a irrigation system along the Missouri river near Jefferson South Dakota, and I saw this airplane come screaming out of the sky over the corn field near the place where me and the local famers were assembling this irragation system. The plane was moving at a incredible speed right over the corn field, with its wheels, acually touching the tops of the corn stocks at about 180 to 200 miles per hour. It was going so fast, and so close, that I could acually identify the person in the aircraft. It was my Dad. I could see his face smiling inside the cockpit, as he went BY IN A FLASH! He pulled the stick BACK IN THE COCKPIT, AND WENT ALMOST STRAIGHT UP! As the engine was SCREAMING WIDE OPEN,WITH A ROAR FROM THE ENGINE, THE PLANE WAS CLIMBING LIKE A HOME SICK ANGEL,BOUND TOWARDS HEAVEN, THEN ALL THE SUDDEN, HE WAS GONE! And then their was silence! And we all looked at each other, and all the famers were saying" WHO"! and" WHAT"! was that! That just flew by.! I said very proudly," THAT WAS MY DAD"! It was pretty neat to have a Dad that could do something like that!
Another time I was in High school at football practice, on the football practice field, and I could see this airplane descending rapidly from the sky about 5 feet off the deck over the practice field at about 180 miles per hour, and once again I could identify the persons in the airplane. This time he had my sister Tanya with him in the back seat, I could acually see her and my Dad smiling because they were so low, and close as they flew by. I THOUGHT IT IS THE SAME PROGRAM AS BEFORE, HERE COMES THE SCREAMING ENGINE, FOLLOWED THE CLIMBING HOME SICK ANGEL, THAT'S HEAVEN BOUND! (Football practice stoped for a moment!) And sure enough, everyone stood around ONCE AGAIN and said "WHO" and "WHAT" was that! ALL I DID was smile from ear to ear, behind THE SHADOWS OF my sweating face mask on the football field as he FLEW BY! With CHILLS UP AND DOWN MY SPINE! TEARS OF HAPPINESS VERY PROUD OF MY DAD ! I said to myself, SOMEDAY IM GOING TO BE JUST LIKE THAT! ! That was pretty neat to have a Dad that could do those kind of things. At the time you think that this is was a normal event. Everybody must have a Dad that can do something like this. But as the years have gone by, you tend to put more of a value on it. As you get older, and realize how fortunate you really are; to have such dedicated, loving parents that were Blessed with so many talents.
Numerous other times my Dad and I would land the super cub on the highway, or in the field north of our house about a quarter of a mile away, witch was about 1/2 mile in length. ( WE CALLED IT THE 70! ) long, and plenty of room for a SUPER CUB to land.There was also a different place where we used to land, it was just north of our house in a pasture, witch was closer to the house but much shorter and very tricky to land in. It was in the shape of a curve, and after a flight lesson, Dad and I would pick up one of my brothers or sisters for a flight lesson, ( BY SLIPPING THE AIRPLANE INTO A CR0SS CONTROL CONFIGURATION THAT WOULD INCREASE DRAG , BY DOING THIS YOU WOULD HAVE TO LOWER THE NOSE, then pull the nose up at the same time, ADD POWER TO KEEP AIR FLOWING OVER THE WINGS, with the prop wash, FOR LIFT. THIS WOULD INCREASE LIFT, OVER THE WINGS NOT AIRSPEED, your angle of attack was increased for a slower ground speed, and slower airspeed. WE HAD ENOUGH LIFT OVER WINGS TO KEEP THE AIRPLANE FLYING, WITH INCREASED POWER, by the prop wash over the wings, THIS WOULD CAUSE THE AIRCRAFT TO GO INTO A CRITICAL SLOW AIRSPEED CONFIGURATION WITHOUT STALLING THE AIRPLANE,( I can remember coming in on short final with the STALL HORN GOING SOUNDING ON, with about 200 to 300 feet to go in ALTITUDE on numerous ocasions! ) SO YOU COULD LAND ON A SHORT, SOFT STRIP WITHOUT CHEWING UP ALOT OF VALUABLE RUNWAY. This manuver would dicrease the ground roll a great deal, because of the slow air speed.THIS MANUVER WAS INVENTED BY A PILOT IN WWII, TO LOSE ALOT ALTITUDE RAPIDLY WITHOUT GAINING ALOT OF AIRSPEED! DAD WAS A MASTER AT THIS MANUVER! THIS WAS SO WE COULD LAND ON A SHORT,SOFT GRASS STRIP APPROXIMATLY 1000 FEET LONG. WITH HIGH LINE WIRES ON BOTH ENDS OF THE GRASS STRIP RUNWAY,AND FLY UNDER THEM. THIS IS KNOWN AS A SHORT, SOFT FIELD LANDING AND TAKEOFF !) in the pasture just north of the house, fly under the high line wires along the highway, because the pasture was not long enough to be a runway to takeoff and land on. WE WOULD ALSO HAVE TO TAKE THE AIRPLANE OFF ON A CURVE IN THE PASTURE AFTER WE HAD LANDED , MISS THE HIGH LINE WIRES, and then fly away. He would say" SONNY BOY THIS IS HOW WE DID IT IN WWII," and then laugh! (WE CALLED THIS MANUVER THE HOVER APPROACH!)Those were always some pretty neat memorable flight lessons from my youth.
He gave a lot of my other brothers and sisters flight lessons as well. I can remember my Dad gave my brother RAY JR. flight lessons, and Dad soloed him IN A PIPER SUPER CUB # N148T ON CHRISTMAS DAY EVENING 1976, before he became a NAVY PILOT and FLEW OFF AIRCRAFT CARRIERS. THAT SAME DAY, MY DAD TOLD ME TO GET IN THE AIRPLANE WITH MY OLDER BROTHER RAY JR. AND WE SOLOED TOGETHER! Which by the FAA standards was totaly illegal. I had soloed at a different time, but my Dad wanted us to fly together that day! I REMEMBER IT WAS, BLOWING SNOW AND A BLIZZARD, WHEN WE SOLOED TOGETHER! We were doing touch and goes on Runway 14 at Martin field, on a cold December day 1976 !
He gave our family so much, and did so many other things that are to numerous to mention.He taught us how to water sky, he built the house that we grew up in, he and mom were hard workers, and taught us good work ethics. He taught us how to build and weld etc. He took on a job that he could be home every night, and gave up a flying career for the family, so he could be home with us kids and mom. ( ALTHOUGH HE DID FLY FOR GRAHAM FLYING SERVICE ON A PART TIME BASIS, DID SOME FLYING FOR THE COMPANY HE WORKED FOR, AND WAS AN INSTRUCTOR AT MARTIN FIELD. IN FACT TOMMY MARTINS J-3 CUB AIRPLANE, WAS AWARDED WORLD CHAMPION IN 1975 AT THE INFAMOUS AIRSHOW AT OSHKOSH WISCONSIN , MY DAD WAS THE ONLY PERSON THAT TOMMY MARTIN WOULD LET FLY THIS AIRPLANE. TOMMY MARTIN SAID IT WAS BECAUSE DAD WAS, A P-51, AND A, A-T6 PILOT IN WWII ! THE WORLD CHAMPION, IS THE YELLOW AIRPLANE, IN THE PHOTO BELOW, IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE WITH MOM AND DAD STANDING IN FRONT OF IT ! IF TOMMY MARTIN HAD ONLY KNOWN THAT DAD HAD LANDED THIER WORLD CHAMPION AIRPLANE ON THE HIGHWAY, AND TAXIED INTO OUR YARD,INTO CORN FIELDS, HAY FIELDS ETC !) Mom and Dad once told me that he would have liked to have had a flying career but they wanted the family to be together) For that I am thankful for because we are a product of another persons investment.( In this case he and mom invested into our family)
In a world where the Father is not a good example My Father Raymond Crevier was just the opposite!
He was always very astute about respecting our elders and athority. He reminded me of THE INFAMOUS BEN CARTWRIGHT of THE RENOWNED INFAMOUS CARTWRIGHTS OF THE FAMED PONDEROSA RANCH, ON THE T.V. SHOW BONANZA of the 1960s.
He led by example and many of the principles he instilled in me I know that I use today . I was always very proud of my Father ! He was a former football player for the Army Aircore, very athletic and a Instructor Pilot in WWII. A GREAT FATHER AND A GOOD HUSBAND TO OUR MOTHER!
He once said "THE LEGACY WE LIVE ON THIS EARTH IS MORE POWERFUL AFTER WE ARE GONE THAN WHEN WE ARE HERE", YOUR ONLY AS GOOD AS THE COMPANY YOU KEEP" AND WHAT EVER YOU DO , DO YOUR BEST AND WORK HARD AND BE THE BEST THAT YOU CAN BE, WHAT EVER IT IS"! THANKS DAD !FOR BEING A GREAT DAD!!! I KNOW I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU , MOM AND MARTY AT THE GOLDEN GATES OF HEAVEN SOMEDAY WHEN MY JOURNEY ON THIS EARTH HAS COME TO AND END!
RAYMOND CREVIER SR. PATRICIA CREVIER
PILOT WW II WW II
1944 1944
PATRICIA & RAY CREVIER SR.
CREVIERS FARM HOUSE IN DRIVEWAY ONE MILE NORTH OF
JEFFERSON SOUTH DAKOTA, AUGUST 1980
( MARTINS 1975 WORLD CHAMPION J-3 CUB AIRPLANE)
(VOETED AT OSHKOSH WISCONSIN)
MOM WAVING AT DAD AND BERT FLYING OVER IN SUPER CUB
AFTER THEY TOOK OFF FROM DRIVEWAY ONTO HIGHWAY 77
RAY CREVIER SR. AIRFORCE FOOTBALL 1944 TIGHT END, AIRFORCE VS NAVY
RAY CREVIER SR. - TEST PILOT, INSTRUCTOR PILOT
WWII 1941 - 1946
PILOT RATINGS LICENSES
COMMERCIAL PILOT
AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE LAND
AIRPLANE MULTI ENGINE LAND
INSTRUMENT AIRPLANE
INSTRUCTOR PILOT
AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE LAND
AIRCRAFT FLIGHT HOURS
J-3 CUB..................................................400 HRS.
180 H.P.- SUPER CUB.............................................500 HRS.
ARONCA CHAMP .....................................300 HRS.
600 H.P-. UPF7- WALCO.......................................1100 HRS.
800 H.P. AT-6......................................................1500 HRS.
PT-19.....................................................500 HRS.
2000 H.P. - P-51 MUSTANG......................................1800 HRS.
MOONEY A...............................................150 HRS.
350 H.P.- BONANZA V TAIL A-36 B..........................100 HRS.
TAYLOR CRAFT........................................120 HRS.
300 H.P.- COMMANCHE. 250....................................100 HRS.
450 H.P.- COMMANCHE..400....................................900 HRS.
350 H.P.- CESSNA 206...SEA PLANE.......................50...HRS.
350 H.P-. CESSNA 206...............................................350 HRS.
600 H.P.- CESSNA 310.............................................500 HRSS
500 H.P.- TWIN COMMANCHE..................................250 HRS.
TWIN APACHE..........................................100 HRS.
500 H.P. TWIN AZTEC A,B,C,D,E,F,MODELS..........1150 HRS.
100 OTHER AIRCRAFT FLOWN.................3000 HRS. +
TOTAL HOURS.....................................12000 HOURS +