Air Force 9 Sept 1948
3762 Sq 108 Flt

Original Obituary written by Dawn Ratay Lortie, unpublished in this form.
RATAY, Francis Drake “Frank”, 80
July 31, 1929 - July 2, 2010
Born in N.Y. City @ the 5th Ave. Hospital to Vlad F.Ratay, b. Prague, Czechoslovakia and his first wife Pauline Evelyn (Jenkins), b. Denver, CO, a dancer turned famous actress on Broadway & later in radio, film, & TV. Frank liked to say how he played the title role in the Broadway play “Her Unborn Child” in which his mother was acting while pregnant with him. At the age of 4 he contracted polio for which he had to be hospitalized at the Orthopedic Hospital of L.A. & wear leg & back braces, but he was one of the few to be fully cured by the time he reached adulthood. After his parents’ divorce he lived mostly with his maternal grandmother Eva (EV) Lucretia Troxel “Nana”, step-grandfather Enoch (EA) Aaron & his daughter Maxine in Eagle Rock. He developed a very strong work ethic when he began working part-time at age 9 selling “Liberty” magazine subscriptions, painting street addresses on curbs, & mowing lawns, then working full time by age 12 at an Eagle Rock children’s store. After graduating from Eagle Rock High School in 1948, he volunteered in the Army Air Corps on Sept. 9, 1948 for 1 year active duty as a photographer out of Chanute Field, Illinois. He then served 3 yrs. assigned to the 452nd Bomber Wing Reserve in Long Beach where he was honorably discharged from the Air Force on Sept. 8, 1952. In Feb. 1951 he married his high school sweetheart, Hara’Lou Marple at the Chapel of Roses in Pasadena, and they had two children. In the mid-1950s he was hired by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. where he worked for 3 yrs. 9 mo., first in the county jail (20 mos.) then patrol out of the Montrose Station. He then became and L.A. County District Attorney’s Investigator, working in the E.L.A. Failure to Provide Office, then as Senior Failure to Provide Investigator (equal to Sergeant) at the main office supervising the entire section of 5 offices. He eventually became Acting Captain of the Child Support Division, expanding to 12 offices and 125 employees. He was also a Major Fraud Investigator for 5 yrs where he was promoted to Lieutenant and worked every section in the bureau. He was assigned to the Process Serving Section which he reorganized into the Trial Liaison Section & developed the Witness-on-Call Program which was eventually adopted by every D.A. in the state. During this time he met his second wife, Sharon Olivia Mayer, and had identical twin daughters. He went on to work at the Tongue Point Job Corps for Women in Oregon, as a Real Estate Salesman selling houses then securities, then syndicating with his friend and business partner Kenneth Rafael. Later in life he worked managing apartment buildings. Then at the age of 76 he returned to his origins to became the oldest graduate ever of the L.A. County Sheriffs Dept. Sheriff’s Security Assistant Training Program. He worked full time for about a year at the San Fernando Courthouse checkpoint before he fell ill to COPD from a long history of smoking and had to retire.
He is survived by his half-siblings Carlee Jean Bennett (Troy) & Gary Lad Ratay (Nancy); nieces Darby Ann Bennett, Marna Lynn Bennett, & Elizabeth Louise Ratay(Claus Danielson); great-nephew Nathiniel James Doolin; ex-wives Hara-Lou Ratay & Cher (Sharon) Olive Mayer; his much beloved children Eve Louise Buckle (Lawrence), Jeffrey Drake Ratay (Cheri), Shawne Theresea Faulks, & Dawn Olivia Lortie (Jeffrey); his granddaughters Amber Louise Buckle, Rachel Elizabeth Ratay, & Audrey Madison Faulks; & his great-grandson Caleb Wayne Buckle. Per his wishes, his cremated remains will be buried at sea on what would have been his 81st birthday July 31, 2010 following an honor guard ceremony at berth 77 in the San Pedro Ports O’ Call. A Memorial celebration of his life will follow at 4pm at his youngest daughter’s home in Culver City 310-649-2304.

1930 New York, Queens County, New York City, 3rd Assembly District, E.D. 41-190, sheet 18A, stamped page 18
3745 81st Street, dwelling 41, family 533
Ratay, Vlad F., head, rents $70, no radio, male, white, age 26, married at age 24, born Czechoslovakia, parents born Czechoslovakia, statistic for investment trust
-------, Pauline E., wife, female, white, age 24, married at age 22, born Colorado, father born Georgia, mother born Indiana, actress in theater
-------, Francis D., son, male, white, 10/12, single, born New York, father born Czechoslovakia, mother born Colorado

1940 California, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles City Assembly Dist. 54, E.D. 60-1129, sheet 8B
2334 Laverna Ave., dwelling 226, owns, $4000
Troxel, E.A., head, male, white, age 60, married, 4 years of college, born Iowa, lived in same house in 1935, special clerk, post office
--------, Eva L., wife, female, white, age 56, married 4 years high school, born Indiana, lived in same house in 1935
Mauthe, Pauline, daughter, female, age 34, divorced, 4 years high school, born Colorado, same place in 1935, motion picture actress
Troxel, Maxine daughter, daughter, female, white, age 24, single, 2 years high school, born California, lived in same house in 1935
Ratay, Francis, grandson, male, white, age 10, single, 5th grade, born New York, lived in same house in 1935