Ray Huntington, 86, of Greenport, formerly of Northport and Cutchogue, died on Oct. 20, 2019. He was 86 years old.
Born August 23, 1933 in Hempstead, he was the son of James
Wallace Huntington and Elsie (Scholz) Huntington.
Raised in Malverne and Lynbrook, he graduated from Farmingdale College and Long Island University and had a career as an engineer for Grumman Aerospace Corporation for more than 42 years.
He contributed to many of the most challenging projects of the early space program, including the lunar module, Apollo missions, and the Space Shuttle wings, as well as numerous important aircraft programs (F14, F16, F18 Hornet, E2 Hawkeye, and others). He remembered Grumman fondly as a wonderful, tight-knit band of people working purposefully together to solve the problems of the day and innovate for the future.
He proudly served the Northport community through many activities in the schools. He was elected to the Northport/East Northport school board for eight years and served as its president for four years.
Ray and his wife Bea retired in 1995 to Fleet’s Neck in Cutchogue to sail, golf, and enjoy time with family and friends at the Pequash and Fleet’s Neck Property Owners Association beaches. He served as FNPOA president for many years.
Ray also worked tirelessly on land preservation and water quality projects serving on and leading teams to save the bucolic scenery and aquifers of many North Fork communities for generations to come. He was a primary force in the passage of the Southold Community Preservation Fund and was appointed to the first Southold Land Preservation Committee in 1998. He also served many years on the town’s Shellfish Committee, and the North Fork Environmental Council.
He then went on to rekindle his love for painting, as well as research and debate, with old and new friends at Peconic Landing in Greenport.
Kind, loving, with an exacting attention to detail, and just a little bit of the imp, he is remembered by many for his thoughtfulness, sense of humor, love of nature, plentiful stories, many theories, and first-rate problem solving for the world at the Men’s Forum and beyond.
Ray is survived by Beatrice B. Huntington, his loving wife of 63 years; his daughter Nancy Huntington Stager and her husband, Jim, of Reading, Massachusetts and Bass River, Cape Cod; his daughter Holly Huntington Hellman and her husband, Charles, of Westport, Connecticut; and his sister Mary Anne Huntington of Cutchogue. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Brian James Huntington Stager, and his wife Sinéad; Alison Elizabeth Huntington Stager; Gregory Huntington Hellman; and William Huntington Hellman.
The family will receive visitors on Thursday, Oct. 24 from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Coster-Heppner Funeral Home in Cutchogue. Father Richard Hoerning of St. Agnes Church in Greenport will offer prayers at 6 p.m. Interment will be private at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Cutchogue.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to: Cradle of Aviation Museum, Attention: Carol Nelson, One Davis Avenue, Garden City, New York 11530.
