Raleigh Stanley South
Raleigh Stanley South passed away peacefully at
Sunshine Terrace on October 19, 2005, just one week
shy of his 81st birthday. He looked forward to
reuniting with his family members who preceded him.
Raleigh was born on October 26, 1924 in Malad, Idaho,
to Grover Lee and Ora Elizabeth (Martin) South. While
a young child, Raleigh’s family moved to Logan, Utah
where he grew up and attended Logan City schools.
Some of his fondest memories as a youth were of
delivering papers on his paper route for the Herald
Journal. Although his family lived in several homes,
the one most dear to him was on Center Street. He
frequently talked about how his mother liked to take
in boarders, most of which were students attending the
“AC,” which is now Utah State University.
Raleigh was a proud veteran of World War II where he
arrived at Utah Beach on the Normandy Coast on D-Day
plus 13 with the MR&R as part of the Army Air Corps
(now the US Air Force). Their duty consisted of
assembling new aircraft coming from the U. S. After
the war, he served in the Air Force Reserves based in
California from which he retired as a major in 1984.
Upon returning to Logan from World War II, he met his
sweetheart of 56 years, a teacher at Ellis Elementary
named Edna Johnson South, at a dance at the Dansante
Center in 1945. They dated for three years and were
married in Logan on June 11, 1949. Raleigh attended
college at the Utah State Agriculture College
graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology. He
and Edna then moved to Vallejo, California in 1953
where they both taught elementary school. After
teaching for a few years, Raleigh became an elementary
school principal until his retirement in 1985. They
loved living in California and shared many good times
with their family and many friends who lived there.
Raleigh loved young children and delighted them with
his magic coin tricks whenever he was around them.
Due to Edna’s failing health, they returned to Logan
in April of 2004. Raleigh was a very devoted husband
to Edna and spent most of his time over the past few
years lovingly caring for her. He continued to
provide loving support and care for her as much as he
could until his own health began failing over the past
few weeks. He loved to take red roses and Bluebird
chocolates to her at Sunshine Terrace, and he made it
a point to give her at least 50 kisses per day. Over
the past year, they loved to go on rides in the nearby
canyons and throughout the valley while eating
chocolate ice cream in the back seat. They continued
to be sweethearts to the very end.
Raleigh is survived by his sweetheart, Edna; a
brother, D. A. South of Salt Lake City; a sister,
Caroleen (Milt) Waite of Florence, Oregon; a
brother-in-law, Herb Newey of Lafayette, California;
and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in
death by his parents, siblings Agnes (Joseph)
Meyrick, Elmer (Shirley) South, Remona (Manice) Caine,
Arthell (Walter) Bingham, and sisters-in-law Lena
South and Evelyn South.
The family would like to thank Dr. Kevin Duke, Dr.
Mark Sarfati, and the staffs at Sunshine Terrace,
Terrace Grove Assisted Living, and Williamsburg
Retirement Center for the excellent care they provided
for Raleigh.
We will really miss you, Raleigh. We know you wanted
to be here to send Edna off, but know you will now be
waiting for her. Thank you for letting us be a part
of yours and Edna’s last months together. We learned
much from you about the importance of family
relationships and to appreciate the simple things in
life.
Graveside services will be held at 12 Noon on
Saturday, October 22, 2005 at the Logan City Cemetery.
A viewing will be held at the Allen-Hall Mortuary
from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM prior to services. Military
honors will be by the American Legion. Condolences
may be sent to the family at Allen Mortuaries.