There is a battered old crate in the garage holding a red bag, two pair of whites, and a blue kazoo. Red, white, and blue became the family's color scheme. Oh, include the colorful green and yellow No-Max in this colorful tale, the life of a forester.
Ray Sherdell Page's forestry experience began near Beaverhead, on the Gila National Forest as a sixteen-year-old volunteer fire-fighter in 1955 (this could be done in those days) clearing fire line. This whetted his interest and he went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in forestry from Oregon State University.
Early on, Ray was involved with Smokey Bear, the Lincoln National Forest and even took a short jaunt to California's Modoc National Forest. Ray enjoyed this, yes, indeed. The Prescott and Santa Fe national forests must also be added and the Gila listed twice since that was his retirement forest.
Retiring in 1994 from the U.S. Forest Service as Air Ops Branch Director, Ray had seen the red cliffs of Grand Canyon while on the Kaibab NF, the white snow on the San Francisco Peaks of the Coconino NF, and the clear blue sky of New Mexico forests. Red, white, and blue, patriotic colors a forester protects.
Ray, or Sherdell, as some called him, moved with his wife to Alamogordo from Silver City in 2009 hoping he would be able to breathe easier in the lower elevation and to live near family. He enjoyed fishing with his son Billy Ray. His two daughters, Julie Ann and Amanda, who live in Santa Fe, visited often. The girls enjoyed camping and gathering medicinal herbs with their dad in the Sacramento Mountains.
In 2015 he successfully re-published his book "Columbus, Queen of the Mimbres Valley," an account of the settlement of Columbus, New Mexico by his family in the early 1900s. Border town tales from newspapers, letters and diaries highlight events before and beyond the well-known Pancho Villa Raid. The settlers were optimistic hoping for the little village to become the Queen of the Mimbres Valley only to be disillusioned when the railroad bypassed the town choosing a different route.
Keeping in touch with many of his fire team members and amigos and following each fire season by TV or Internet, Ray continued to remain close to his personal interest and colorful tradition.
An active member of the New Heart Cowboy Church in Alamogordo, Ray helped set up the financial program, introduced missionary projects and of course attended all the potlucks.
Before moving to Alamogordo, Ray was treasurer of Bible Baptist Church in Silver City and active in the ministry of The Fallen Ox, a local effort to help Mexican pastors of Sonoran Baptist churches in the Hermosillo area.
Ray testified to receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, trusting only in Christ's work on the cross to make him righteous in God's eyes and nothing of himself.
Ray, 77, succumbed to a fifteen-year bout with pulmonary fibrosis on June 2, 2015, and is now with his Savior.