Raymond Vital Gendron
We mourn our loss and celebrate the life of Raymond Vital Gendron, of Hudson, who passed away on April 15, 2025, after a brief illness.
Ray was born in Sanford, Maine on January 9, 1934. He attended Sanford High School, where he served as class president every year until his graduation in 1951. For more than 70 years afterwards, Ray was a dedicated organizer and participant in Sanford High School class reunions.
As a young man, Ray built and flew model airplanes. That passion grew, and he became a pilot and later worked for Cessna Aircraft.
He attended the University of Maine at Orono, then transferred to the University of New Hampshire to finish his bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering, and received his MBA from Northeastern University.
Ray met Mary Ann Provencal in Sanford and they wed on May 5, 1956. They eventually settled in Hudson and had seven children, who became the focal point of their lives.
He worked as a mechanical engineer for Sanders Associates, Nashua Corporation, Atlantic Business Forms, BASF, and CTI Cryogenics, among others.
Later in his career, Ray became an entrepreneur. He was an avid runner, and that led him to start a home business selling high-visibility running vests. He also started a technical writing firm, Tech Text, Inc., to create user manuals for manufacturing equipment.
In his spare time, Ray and his siblings worked hard to support his parents, to manage the Gendron mill property in Sanford, Maine.
Ray and Mary Ann were longtime parishioners of St. John XXIII church in Hudson. They also served as eucharistic ministers.
He enjoyed a variety of pastimes, including running, mountain biking, camping, sailing, playing his keyboard, and tinkering around the house. Ray was a loyal, devoted, and loving son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, and uncle.
Ray’s loving family includes his children, Kathy Hogan, Steve Gendron, Rachel Ouellette and her partner Peter Watton, Linda Masucci and her husband Chris Masucci, David Gendron and his partner Kathleen Pierce, Cheryl Gendron and her partner Dale Compton, Jeff Gendron and his wife Kathy Gendron, many grandchildren and one great-grandchild, as well as nieces and nephews, his sisters, Paula St. Amand and Lucille Hesse and her husband Robert Hesse, and his sister-in-law Annette Foisy.
Ray was predeceased by his loving wife Mary Ann (Provencal) Gendron, his brother Ronald and sister-in-law Beverly Gendron, his brothers-in-law Norman St. Amand and Robert Foisy, and his son-in-law Donald Ouellette and daughter-in-law Candace Gendron.
A time of visitation will be held on Thursday, April 24th from 10:00am – 12:00pm noon with a Prayer Service beginning at 12:00pm noon in the Dumont-Sullivan Funeral Home, 50 Ferry Street in Hudson. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation in Ray’s loving memory to either the American Heart Association at www.heart.org or the American Stroke Association at www.stroke.org. To share an online message of condolence, please visit www.dumontsullivan.com The Dumont-Sullivan Funeral Home in Hudson is in charge or arrangements.