Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Paul Henry
Bosworth, 95 of San Antonio, TX died Wednesday (July 22, 2020). Born on April 11, 1925, an infant Ray was left on the Depot St. doorstep of the Breckney family of Franklin, NH and warmly embraced by Meme and her adult children. Boz, as he was known to all, in the midst of World War II joined the U.S. Navy at 16. He married his high school sweetheart, Cecile Pikor, in Gulfport, Mississippi while on shore leave in 1944 but was quickly shipped off to serve as a pharmacist’s mate in the Pacific Theatre and landed in Okinawa as part of an advance team to capture the island as a staging base.
Ray returned to Cecile, his son Ray – the first of four children – and civilian life in Franklin, NH following the Allied victory. Eventually Boz found his way back to the military piloting for the U.S. Army. During the Korean and Vietnam wars, he was a solopilot – those pioneers of aeromedical evacuation who responded alone to deliver the injured to battalion aid stations and MASH sites serving as navigator, mechanic, pilot and medic. His instrument-rated mastery of rotary and fixed wing aircraft capabilities particularly suited his final assignment as Army Aviation Test Board Chief Weapons Inspector.
Boz proudly served his country for 25 years spanning three wars earning the numerous Medals, Campaign Ribbons and other awards.
After retirement, Ray and Cecile returned to San Antonio, TX where he started an air-conditioning service with the assistance of training from the GI Bill and supported Cecile in starting a ceramics studio, Ceramic City. In the 1980s, Boz and Cecile returned to Franklin each summer. Eventually, he traced his birth family through genealogical records and reunited with his biological sisters. Throughout his life, Boz never met a stranger and he regularly honed favorite stories of a New England childhood near Lake Winnipesaukee, adventures in piloting, running Griffin’s Drug Store, blasting for the Merrimack Dam and singing off-color war-time songs his grandchildren delighted in belting out with him.
Boz was a charming silver fox who loved his family, his country, and the unbeatable combination of spaghetti and strawberry shortcake.
Lt. Col. Bosworth is survived by his wife, Cecile (Pikor) Bosworth; his daughter, Linda Bosworth, of Houston, TX; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by both of his sons, Raymond Paul Bosworth and Gerry Lee Bosworth; a daughter, Jo Ann Bosworth Martin; and a grandson, Patrick Jablecki.
Private services were held at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, TX.