 GILBERT, RAYMOND ARTHUR, BRIG GEN, USAF (RET) Age 94, a longtime resident of Albuquerque, NM, died Saturday, December 28, 2013. He is survived by his wife, Constance B. Young, of Albuquerque. He had several tours of duty in Albuquerque, including serving as the first Director and Commander of the Air Force Weapons Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque from 1963 until 1966. General Gilbert was born in Mattoon, Illinois on April 19, 1919. He graduated from high school there in 1936 and attended the University of Cincinnati on a work / study program. He entered military service in May 1941 as an aviation cadet in the Army Air Corps, which later became the United States Air Force. He was a command pilot with over 4,000 hours of flying time. During World War II, he was an instructor pilot in the United States; after the war he was assigned to the military government in Europe; there, he flew as part of the Berlin Airlift. In May 1949, the Air Force sent him to Ohio State University where he completed both his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in theoretical physics in 1952. Since 1952 and until his retirement in 1970, all of his Air Force assignments were in the field of research and development, including his tours in Albuquerque. At the time of his retirement, he was serving as the Director for all of the Air Force's laboratories. General Gilbert also received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Albuquerque in 1967. After retirement from the Air Force, General Gilbert worked for several organizations concerned with space and energy policy before making Albuquerque his permanent home. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his oldest son, Richard K. Gilbert of Washington, D.C., and his youngest son, Thomas A. Gilbert of Bulverde, Texas, and his two children, Andrew and Naomi. He is also survived by his stepdaughter Daphne Orner and her husband David of Albuquerque, and their children, Jonathan Orner and Laurel Christensen and her husband Preston and their daughters, Sawyer and London. General Gilbert was preceded in death by his first wife Frances Keith Gilbert of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and his middle son, Jack A. Gilbert of Studio City, California. Services will be held Monday, January 13, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. at Grace Church of Albuquerque, 6901 San Antonio Drive, NE, in Albuquerque. Later that day, a military burial service will be held at 2:15 p.m. at the Santa Fe National Cemetery, 501 North Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, at www.woundedwarriorproject.org or at P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, KS, 66675. An online guestbook for Raymond A. Gilbert is available at www.FrenchFunerals.com FRENCH - Wyoming 7121 Wyoming Blvd. NE (505) 823-9400
|
