Dr. Raymond Dewie Germany, Sr.

Funeral services for Dr. Raymond Dewie Germany, Sr. (Ph.D.), 85, of Haughton, will be held Friday, October 1, 2021, at 3 p.m. at Kilpatrick Funeral Home in Ruston with Rev. Rolly Walker, Charles Germany and Bro. Stan Foster officiating.

Visitation will be held Thursday, September 30, 2021, from 4-6 p.m. at Kilpatrick Funeral Home in Ruston.

Raymond was born July 15, 1936, in Canton, Texas, and passed away September 27, 2021, at his home in Haughton, after a long, hard, courageous battle with prostate cancer.

Born during the height of the Great Depression, he lived his early life in Texas in Martins Mill and Vernon, describing his childhood as one of being “a country boy raised in a cotton patch.” In Vernon, he nailed the metal ring from an old barrel on a barn and practiced shooting basketball in the West Texas wind. As a teenager, he moved to northeast Louisiana and attended Holly Ridge High School, graduating in 1955.

A two-time All-State basketball player, he was a member of the school’s Class B State Champion team. He was selected “Mr. Basketball” of Louisiana in 1955 by the LHSAA. For college he attended Louisiana Tech on a basketball scholarship, graduating with a B.S. in Education in 1960.

He also earned an M.S. in Biology Education in 1961 and an M.S. in Zoology in 1972. At Louisiana Tech he earned four letters in basketball and was an all-conference selection for four years. He was twice named Honorable Mention All American. In 1960 he was named a 2nd team All American of the NAIA and was selected for the Olympic Trials. Recognized as one of Tech’s greats, he was named as an honorable mention member of the Louisiana Tech All-Century Team.

In 2002, he was chosen as an honoree of the LHSAA and the Top 28 Championship Tournament for Outstanding Service and Accomplishments in basketball in Louisiana. In 2016, he was inducted into the Ark La Tex Sports Museum of Champions. Raymond spent his professional life as a teacher, coach, and a scientist.

Beginning in the early 1960s, he coached and taught at Farmerville High School two years and Minden High School for nine years before returning to graduate school.

In 1977, he earned his Ph. D. in Fisheries Science from Texas A&M University and went on to a career of over two decades in the environmental field. He worked for an environmental consulting and testing firm for seven years and then for Arkla Pipeline Group for 12 years as the Environmental Safety Manager.

He retired briefly, and in 2002 returned to teaching at Bossier Parish School Board’s Achievement Center — Butler Educational Complex. He retired for good in 2015, but he never stopped working and carried a relentless work ethic all the way until the end of his life.

What mattered most to him, though, was his family. He dearly loved his wife of 62 years, his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and so many other friends and family. In what turned out to be the last week of his life, he summed it up when he said, “That’s the legacy — how your family is.”

His family loved him dearly and will miss him dearly as they cling to and continue to benefit from the enormous legacy he made for them.

Dr. Germany is preceded in death by his parents Marlin and Ruth Germany of Vernon, Texas; three sisters, Francis Owen, Ila Mae Studdard, and Patsy Ruth (infant); four brothers, Kelly, J.A., Marlin, and Lester.

He has one surviving brother, Charles and his wife Jean of Rayville. He has three surviving sisters-in-law, Mary Germany of Canton, Texas; Donna Germany of Evans, Georgia; Robbie Jo Barnett Loe of Arcadia.

His is survived by Nelda Sue Barnett Germany, his wife of 62 years. Left to cherish his memories include his four children, Lovie Dee Germany Hunt and husband Steven from Haughton, Raymond Dewie Germany, Jr. and wife Sandra from Shreveport, Robbie Elizabeth (Beth) Germany Burns and husband Jeff from Hendersonville, Tennessee, Kent Barnett Germany and wife Mary from Columbia, South Carolina; and his grandchildren, Dawson Hunt and Randee Hunt Webster, married to Robert Webster; Patrick Germany and Caroline Germany Smith married to Josh Smith; Jared Burns, Elizabeth Burns and Caitlin Burns Allen married to Nick Allen; Elise Germany, Sarah Germany and Margaret Germany; his two great grandchildren Trip and Kaitlyn Webster; and a number of other relatives and friends. Mother of Caroline and Patrick is Nancy Germany Eberhardt.