10/14/2025
Ray Donald Bair, 92 — Lover of Snoopy, $2 Bills, and a Good Newspaper Clip
On Tuesday, October 14, 2025, Ray Donald Bair peacefully signed off from this world in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania — likely with a newspaper nearby and a Snoopy cartoon close at hand.
While most obituaries often focus on what’s left behind, we’d rather celebrate the laughs, lessons, and legacies Ray sprinkled throughout life — and, yes, a few $2 bills too.
Despite his middle name, Ray wasn’t a Donald Duck fan. He was, however, one of the biggest Snoopy enthusiasts you’ll ever meet. His great-grandkids made a game of spotting Snoopy “in the wild” and would proudly say, “We should send that to Pee Paw!” It’s safe to say that from now on, no one who knew Ray will ever see Snoopy without smiling and thinking of him.
Ray also had a deep affection for the $2 bill, making it his personal mission to spread them far and wide across Lancaster County. If your mailbox ever held one tucked in a birthday card, you were loved. Every time one changes hands today, someone somewhere says, “That’s a Grandpa Ray thing.”
A businessman till the end, Ray never met a newspaper he didn’t dissect. He zeroed in on the business section daily and was known to clip articles, scribble insightful (and occasionally opinionated) notes in the margins, and mail them to the people he felt “needed to know”.
He had a vast and varied work history-Chartered Life Underwriter 1970, Chartered Financial Consultant 1984 Henry Carpenter 1958, Inc, New York Life and Jefferson Pilot Life Insurance companies, Independent since 1976 with Life Insurance and Investments and with Universal Investment Services since 1993-2005.
Ray built a long and respected career in Life Insurance and Investments, including a term as President of the Lancaster Association of Life Underwriters. He believed in hard work, good ethics, and the art of staying connected. Family, friends, neighbors, business associates and strangers on the street…..he would stop and want to sincerely get to know what was going on with you! Relationships were his strength and passion. His family often joked that he had a more active social calendar than any of them. Ray was a proud member of the Leola Lions Club, a member of the Zion Lutheran Church of Leola, PA , the Masonic Lodge of Ephrata, the American Legion and a regular supporter of the Brethren Village community. Over the years he was involved in the Jaycees, Cross Party Government Support, the Corner of Hope, March of Dimes, Toys for Tots and the Salvation Army. In his younger years, he loved to sail, play tennis, golf and after retirement, spending winters in Florida. In his ‘more mature’ years he enjoyed Penn State football, the Phillies and Eagles from the comfort of his recliner!
Born in 1933 in New Holland, PA to Naomi Rupp Bair and Herbert E. Bair, Ray lived most of his life in Lancaster County — a place he loved deeply. He graduated from New Holland High School and went on to attend and graduated Franklin & Marshall College with a B.S. in Economics. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in March of 1953 and fought in the Korean War, Honorably discharged in 1955.
He is survived by his two sons, Timothy (Jill), Williamsport, PA and Thomas (Kathy), Mt. Joy, PA and his four granddaughters — Sarah Bair Kudlack, Melissa Bair Alleman, Nicole Bair Lindberg, and Desiree Whiteman — each proudly claiming to be Grandpa’s favorite. His great grandchildren, Finn, Shay, Ryan, Maeve, Raine and Cole, filled his heart (and his refrigerator door) with art, photos, and joy.
Visitation will be held Tuesday October 21, 5-7 PM and services will take place Wednesday, October 22, at 11:00 AM, both will be at the Zion Lutheran Church in Leola, 18 Quarry Rd., Leola, PA 17540.
In lieu of flowers, the family invites memorial contributions to Zion Lutheran Church. And if you really want to honor his memory — slip a $2 bill in someone’s card and send them a Snoopy comic. He’d love that.