Dr. Joseph Raymond, Notable Physician, Educator, Volunteer

Dr. Joseph Raymond, a longtime Pacific Palisades physician and educator, died on November 26 in Miami, Florida.’He was 89.   For nearly three decades,’Dr. Raymond’ran a family medical practice that embraced members of the local community and numerous distinguished personalities. He afforded everyone the same attention and care, earning him a reputation as a benevolent and generous doctor.’ ‘   The community loved him too.’He was named the 31st Pacific Palisades Citizen of the Year in 1977 for his contributions to youth sports.   ’Our community, our youth organizations, our families, all who come in contact with Doc go on about their lives the richer because he is there,’ said one community member the night of the’ceremony. ‘He exudes a genuineness and warmth which is indeed most rare.’   Dr. Raymond, his wife Alyce (whom he married in 1950 while attending medical school), and their six children lived in Pacific Palisades for nearly 40 years. They arrived in 1967 when’he began his more than 30-year career helping to make the UCLA Medical Center one of the world’s leading research and care facilities.   Dr. Raymond had been one of the first residents in pathology at the UCLA Medical School.’In 1968, he was asked to come back to establish and operate the medical center’s clinical laboratories. He went on to become an associate director. In this role, he developed one of the first allied health programs. He also served as an assistant dean at the medical school, where he taught clinical and dental students.’   Despite his busy career, Dr. Raymond’also served as physician for the Palisades High football team for over a decade. He also found time to be active in local youth swimming, football and Scouting programs, where his six children participated.”   ’Without his countless hours of unselfish, professional, volunteered help, the youth programs of the Palisades would be at a loss,’ read one letter nominating’Dr. Raymond for Citizen of the Year. ‘The young people adore him, the parents thank him.”   The Raymond family lived for seven years in an historic home on Pampas Ricas in the Huntington Palisades that was the original office of the Santa Monica Land and Water Company. Dr. Raymond dreamed of restoring the property and grounds, and worked in his spare time with architects on preliminary drawings.’But the family needed more space and moved farther down Sunset to the Riviera and another Spanish Revival home that they still own today.   Raymond grew up in Newark, New Jersey, one of six boys raised by a widowed mother. He attended Montclair State University at the urging of his older brother Thomas, who became the first Italian-American professor at the Harvard Business School.   During World War II, Raymond served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Cambridgeshire, England. The GI bill helped him study at Cornell and Lehigh Universities until he was accepted at Jefferson Medical’College’in Philadelphia. He graduated second in the class in 1952.”   His son Joshua, now a physician and assistant professor in gerontology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey, also graduated from Jefferson.   Dr. Raymond’and his brothers were pioneers in the San Francisco biotechnology industry.’In the 1970s, they founded and ran a chain of plasma centers later acquired by Abbott Laboratories.’   Dr. Raymond remained active as a physician and hospital administrator until he was in his late 70s. In retirement, he took up painting.   After Dr. Raymond’s wife Alyce died in 2005, he created the Alyce Raymond Scholarship at UCLA’s David Geffen Medical School. The fund helps students facing economic and personal challenges pursue careers in public service and medicine.’   In 2006,’Dr. Raymond’moved to Bal Harbour, Florida, where he remained an avid supporter of the arts and an active community member.   He is survived by his six children, Anthea, Toby, Zachary, Briony, Melissa and Joshua; two grandchildren, Peter and Charles; and two brothers, Robert and Charles.’   The funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, December 4, at Corpus Christi Church, with burial at Holy Cross Cemetary. A wake and memorial will follow at 2 p.m. at 212 Entrada in Santa Monica Canyon.   Donations may be sent in lieu of flowers to the Alyce Raymond Scholarship Fund/UC Regents, 845 Via de la Paz, #6A, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272. ‘