Raymond Robert Carson

Raymond Robert Carson was born to Glenn and Lucy Carson on April 18, 1926, on their farm near Monango, North Dakota.  He helped his father on the farm as a child and as a young man, farming with horses until the early 1950s.  He was a lover of animals, a love inspired by his life on the farm.  In turn, animals responded to him easily and loved him deeply.
In 1946, Raymond married Ida Mae Reisdorph, and they had five children.  She passed away in 2009.
A farmer at heart, Raymond farmed in North Dakota, and operated a lumberyard until 1960, when he and his family moved to Valentine, Nebraska, where he extended his knowledge of carpentry and pursued a career as a skilled carpenter and woodworker.
In 1963, the family moved to Independence, Oregon, where Raymond built many homes, pieces of furniture and objects of art.  He even designed and built his own casket.  He was loved by those who contracted with him to build their homes, and his work was beautifully done.
Later in life, when the physical demands of carpentry became too difficult, he bought his beloved John Deere tractors and worked the soil again, this time for Holiday Tree Farms. Even so, woodworking was still a major part of his life, and in later years he turned many items on his lathe, giving those items to friends and strangers alike.
Always an inventor at heart, Raymond built toys as a child and progressed to ingenious machines from gate closures to huge machines.  Tired of stacking hay by hand, he built a hay stacker.  When planting Christmas trees was difficult, he built a tree planter.  He also invented a machine for removing tree stumps from the ground after harvest. Some of the machines he built are still being used to farm in the Christmas tree business.  His creativity extended to his woodworking, and his creations are used and loved by his family and friends.
Raymond was generous beyond measure and was deeply loved by those who knew him.  His Christian walk was true and faithful throughout his life.  There is no doubt that he was met with the words, "Well done, thou true and faithful servant," when he entered heaven's gates.
He is survived by his children, Barbara Ragan (spouse, Steve); Connie Jennings (spouse, George); Eugene Carson (spouse, Joyce); and Milton Carson.  His son Douglas was stillborn in 1954.  Seven grandchildren survive him as well as sixteen great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
Services for Raymond will be held at The Salem Alliance Church in Cedar Hall, 555 Gaines Street, NE at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, 2020.  Private interment will be at Bethel Cemetery, Rickreall, Oregon.  Farnstrom Mortuary is caring for the family.  Memories and condolences at FarnstromMortuary.com.
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