Raymond A. Kimball, Colorado civic, church and business leader, passed away quietly at his home Sunday morning, March 19, 1995 at the age of 76. Mr. Kimball, President of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry from its inception in 1965 until 1983, worked with four Governors and the State Legislature during a period of unprecedented growth and development in Colorado. He also served as the first president of the Denver Colorado Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Born in Kanosh, Utah in 1918, Ray Kimball was raised on a cattle ranch there. After serving as student body president in high school and at Southern Utah State University, he went on to graduate from Utah State University. He came to Denver as a Sloan Fellow at the University of Denver, where he completed a Master's Degree before pursuing a doctoral program at Stanford University.When World War II interrupted his education, Kimball was commissioned and served as an officer in the United States Navy. He trained at Harvard University and saw duty in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Solomons. He finished the war as staff officer to Admiral A.C. Reed.
Kimball married Adrus Hansen in Tremonton, Utah, who served with him in his church and civic duties. She survives him, along with their five daughters: Mrs. Kristine Harris, of Highlands Ranch, Colorado; Mrs. Diane Wilcox, of Littleton, Colorado; Mrs. Treo Winterrose, of Renton, Washington; Mrs. Colette Rolandelli, of Dallas, Texas; and Mrs. Melanie Shaha, Marysville, Washington. He is survived by two brothers, Gardner Kimball, of Orem, Utah; and Orval Kimball, of Kanosh, Utah; by one sister, Mrs. Rose K. Black, of Salt Lake City, Utah; and 22 grandchildren.
Mr. Kimball's career included professional responsibilities with the Colorado Public Expenditure Council, the C.F. & I. Steel Corporation, the Denver Dry Goods Company, and the Colorado Association of Commerce & Industry, which he headed for 18 years.
Mr. Kimball was named Citizen of the Year by the Denver Civitan Club in 1979. He received the Distinguished Service Alumni Award from the University of Denver in 1975, and the Civis Princeps Award from Regis College of Denver in 1974. He was named Alumni Business Man of the Year by Southern Utah University in 1970.
Active in civic affairs, he was president of the City Club of Denver, the Council of Western Retail Associations, the Colorado Chamber of Commerce Executives, and the Colorado Society of Association Executives. He served on the Board of Directors and as an officer of the Rotary Club of Denver. A charter member of the Denver Public School's first Committee on Equality of Education Opportunity, he was a delegate to the National White House Conference on Education in 1956.
Active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mr. Kimball served twice as a Bishop and twice as a counselor in Stake Presidencies before serving as President and then Patriarch of the Littleton Colorado Stake between 1974 and 1986. He was called by Church President Ezra Taft Benson in 1986 to serve as the first president of the new Denver Colorado Temple. He subsequently served a mission at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was director of the Arizona Temple Visitors Center in Mesa, Arizona.
There will be a family visitation Wednesday, March 22, from 7-8:30 p.m. at Chapel Hill Mortuary, 6601 So. Colorado Blvd., Littleton. The memorial service will be Thursday, March 23, at 12 noon at the Easter Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1939 E. Easter Blvd., Littleton, Colorado.
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