Raymond Carl Zaller, who moved to Pacific Palisades in 1956 and raised five children here, died on June 5 of complications from a stroke. He was 90. Ray’s parents immigrated to the United States from what is now Slovenia in the early 1900s. They ran a family bakery in Cleveland and were able to send all four of their children to college despite the Great Depression. Ray graduated with a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1940 from the University of Notre Dame, one of the first colleges to offer that degree. Ray attempted to enlist in the military during World War II, but was required to continue his job designing fighter planes for Lockheed. After the war, he joined Douglas Aircraft, then the premier aircraft maker in the world, and became chief test engineer for its new passenger jet, the DC-8. Ray remained proud throughout his life that no passengers were lost in the DC-8 as a result of flaws in its airframe, the strength of which he had vouched for. Ray’s next big project was the fourth stage of the Saturn moon rocket. The challenge was to build a rocket motor that could heat up to thousands of degrees to boost the Apollo capsule to the moon, cool suddenly to below zero without cracking, and then re-start later to propel the craft back to earth. He led the test team that certified the fourth stage, which performed without incident on all 15 of its missions. Ray ended his career as a project manager on the Space Shuttle team, retiring at age 74. From the Cleveland Air Races, which he attended as a child, to the Space Shuttle, his life spanned the glory years of American aviation. Ray married Lucille Mary Litty of Brainard, Nebraska, in 1948. At the end of their 58-year marriage, he spent 10 years caring for Lucy in her long struggle with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. In the two years after her death, Ray could often be seen around the village as he walked hurriedly to the market, to church, or to the YMCA gym, where he worked out nearly every day. Ray suffered two strokes. Shortly after the first one, in April, he told family members that he had a dream in which the Virgin Mary appeared to him. According to some Catholic traditions, such appearances may be a sign that death will occur 40 days later. In fact, Ray died exactly 40 days after the dream as a result of a second stroke. He was a devoted member of the Legion of Mary during most of his adult life and prayed the rosary almost every day. He died surrounded by family and with a smile on his face. Ray is survived by his five children, John (wife Barbara) of Pacific Palisades, Greg (Laurie) of Grass Valley, Paula Miller (Jim) of Kirkland, Washington, Mark (Sharon) of Sonora, and Mary Munds (Ron) of Los Osos; and 10 grandchildren. A Rosary will be held for Ray at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, June 13 at Corpus Christi Church and will be followed by a memorial Mass at 5:30. He will be buried in a private ceremony at Holy Cross Cemetery alongside Lucy.
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