Raymond Junior Cummins, age 100, of Mena, Arkansas, died peacefully Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, at Homewood Cottages In Mena. He was born June 9, 1924, to Raymond and Nellie Mae Dyer Cummins in Roodhouse Township, Greene County, Illinois.
At the age of 18, Jan. 18, 1943, he enlisted and was inducted into the army at Peoria, IL. After basic training, he was sent to the South Pacific in the 34th infantry regiment, 24th Division. He was in the Philippines on D Day. When World War II ended in 1946, he was honorably discharged and awarded a bronze star for each of the three campaigns he fought in.
Raymond married Betty Lea Stinnett in Roodhouse,IL, on Oct. 19, 1948. During his life, Raymond worked in several capacities such as farming, dairy inseminator, refineries producing shortening and gasoline, and pipeline operator pumping gasoline. After an accident in 1964 in which he was severely burned, he became a retardation specialist working with handicapped children. Later he worked in private duty care for several elderly patients.
Raymond and Betty have been residents of Mena, Arkansas, since 1981, where Raymond busied himself doing all kinds of volunteer work such as helping friends with carpentry projects, teaching reading, hospice volunteer, and more. Raymond was a member of Faith Missionary Baptist Church.
Raymond is preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Violet Phillips, Lorene Edwards, Mildred Hoots, Helen Reid, and Norma Jean O’Brien; brothers, Orval Cummins, Columbus Ray Cummins, Charles Kenneth Cummins, James Floyd Cummins, and William and Richard Franklin Cummins who died in infancy.
Raymond is survived by his wife of 76 years, Betty; two daughters, Sheila (Vernon) Payne of Mena, Arkansas, and Sharon (John) C’deBaca of Midway, Kentucky; three grandchildren, Amanda (Jeremy) Herndon of Harrison, Arkansas, Jason Kennedy (partner Christine Bell) of Louisville, Kentucky, and Emily Payne of Farmington, Arkansas; three great grandchildren, Alexis Payne of Mena, Arkansas, Chambers Herndon and James Calvin Herndon of Harrison, Arkansas; one sister, Alice Mae Orten of Washington, IL; several nieces and nephews, other relatives and friends.
Cremation services for Raymond are entrusted to Bowser Family Funeral Home. A private memorial service is planned, with burial in the Union Cemetery, Greenfield, IL.
Contributions in memory of Raymond may be made to Faith Missionary Baptist Church, 2407 Sutherland Ave., Mena, Arkansas, or Union Cemetery, Greenfield, IL 62044.