Scottsbluff Star Hearld Scottsbluff, NE 4 Aug 2007 Raymond Eugene Kautz, of Gering died Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007, at 4 a.m. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Aug. 7, at Cen-tral Church of Christ for the opportunity for all who knew him to mourn his passing and celebrate his full and storied life. Interment will be at West Lawn Cemetery. Visitation will be Monday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Gering Memorial Chapel. Tributes of sympathy may be left at www.geringchapel.com. Raymond was born in the Gering Valley June 17, 1933, the eldest of five children, to Jack and Ollie (Wineman) Kautz. The family moved to 1206 Avenue C in Scottsbluff when Ray was still a young boy. One of his favorite boyhood pastimes was playing marbles, which he was able to acquire in abundance from schoolmates and later as his interests changed, used as slingshot ammu-nition for small game hunting. Ray graduated from Scottsbluff High School in the class of 1951. He participated in athletics there and lettered in football, wearing number 73, and playing offensive end. He was employed at the parts counter at Stickney's in Scottsbluff where he encountered the love of his life, Roslyn Ruth Brokken, whom he took for his wife on Nov. 19, 1955. Ray sired and raised six children, inculcating them with the values he held dear, such as hard work, respect for other people and their goods and property, a love of the outdoors, self-sufficiency and a sense of humor. He was one of Johnny Carson's biggest fans. Ray Kautz's primary vocation throughout his income earning years was as an electrician. He worked at Consumers Public Power District as a lineman, a challenging and dangerous occupation and not for the faint of heart, through most of the 1960's. He also had stints working in municipal electric companies in Muscatine, Iowa and in Gering, and with private electrical contractor Ron Martisichewsky. He was also employed for several years at Sturgeon Electric Company out of Denver, a position which was a large sacrifice for him, and he determined to commute, so his children could continue living and being educated in Gering, rather than moving the family to what he perceived to be the more volatile environment of the big city. The crowning achievement and legacy of Raymond's working career has been the founding, establishment and growth of the Gering Garden Center. Very few places in the Nebraska panhandle have produced as much agricultural output on five and a half acres as the location at 850 10th Street in Gering, Neb. Through frugality with the family's resources, tight money management, ingenuity in acquiring and expanding the facilities and infrastructure for plant propagation, and an intuitive understanding of human nature and the market, Ray turned his property into a garden shop that area plant enthusiasts have enjoyed and patronized for many years. Raymond is survived by all six of his children, Michael and his wife Rhonda of Melbeta, Eric and his wife Julie of Gering, Robert and his wife Tracey of Kenai, Alaska, Theodore and his wife Patricia of Anchorage, Alaska, Joseph, the eligible bachelor of Menlo Park, Calif., and Heidi and her husband Shachar Argov of Kanaohe, Hawaii. He is also survived by his younger brother, Larry Kautz and his wife Donna of Mitchell, by his uncle Kenneth Wineman of Gering; by numerous nieces and nephews; cousins; in-laws; nine grandchildren and two step-grandchildren, and, of course, by his loving wife, confidant, business partner, and all-around exceptional lady, Rosie. >From all of us we pray, "May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord lift His countenance and be gracious unto you, May the Lord have mercy upon you and give you peace, amen". Raymond is preceded in death by his parents, brother Grover Kautz, sisters Joan Chatterton and Linda Somr, and granddaughter Jessica Kautz.