On Sunday, May 23, almost 100 parishioners attended a ceremony at the Federated Church of Edgartown in memory of Raymond E. Skladzien of East Chop, a longtime Islander who died in April 2008, one month before his 87th birthday. The church dedicated its new outdoor sign to Ray, who had been serving as a deacon at the time of his death.

Ray was born in Chicago and attended Northwestern University. Soon after graduation, he joined the U.S. Army in 1942, at the start of World War II. While serving as a first lieutenant in 1944, he met the woman who would become his wife, Josephine (Jo) Gifford. She was in the service, as well, driving a truck for the Red Cross. The two were married in 1945, and were together for 50 years until he lost her to cancer in 1995.

After he was discharged from the Army in 1946, Ray joined the Army Reserve and, later, the Massachusetts National Guard, in both cases as a first lieutenant.

Josephine’s parents had built their Vineyard home on Winnemack avenue in East Chop in 1928. While living in Taunton — with Ray serving as president of the Southern Massachusetts Oil Company — he and Josephine and their two children spent most weekends on the Vineyard. Ray joined the Masons in the 1950s and rose to become a 32nd degree Mason. He also learned to fly solo in a Piper Cub in 1956, an experience that sparked a lifetime passion for every aspect of aviation.

Then in 1975, the family moved to the Vineyard home year-round. Ray commuted between the Vineyard and Taunton for a decade before retiring in 1985.

Ray was widely known on the Vineyard. His entire life was devoted to serving individuals and community. He formed the Martha’s Vineyard chapter of the Rotary Club in December 1990 and served as its first president. He had previously been a member of the Taunton Rotary for 33 years, also serving as president of that chapter. Even in his later years, he drove a school bus for Edgartown, as well as a shuttle bus, because he loved the company of children and the opportunity to show off his Island to visitors.

But perhaps the best way to underscore Ray Skladzien’s sense of service is to summarize his charitable activities during his years in Taunton: chairman of the Taunton chapter of the American Red Cross (1959); appointment by then Gov. John A. Volpe to develop the Commonwealth’s Emergency Controls Organization for a National Emergency (1966); trustee of the United Fund of Greater Taunton (1973); vice president and member of the executive committee of the Community Chest of Taunton (1964); member, 1975 National United Nations Day Committee; trustee, Morton Hospital in Taunton (1957); board member, Taunton Area Association of Commerce (1961); corporator, Taunton Savings Bank (1970); appointment by the mayor of Taunton to serve on the executive committee for the observance of the city’s 100th anniversary (1962).

He is survived by his daughter, Linda, a local artist, and a son, Joseph.