One of our most senior members is the subject of this month's 'Spotlight', Brother RAYMOND JACKSON. Ray was born on September 4, 1922, in Newberry, Florida. He is a graduate of Industrial High School in West Palm Beach, Florida. Ray has also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Political Science from Queens College, New York City, and is a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the oldest Black Greek-lettered fraternity in the country. Ray now serves as the Chairman of the Nominating Committee in his local Alpha chapter.  He went into the U.S.Army in January, 1943, serving with the Military Police in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and was honorably discharged in March, 1946. Ray became a police officer with the New York City Transit Police Department in May, 1956. He worked in Districts #1, #4, #2, Firearms Unit, Operations Unit, Statistics and Analysis Unit, and District #32. Ray retired from the Department in May 1985, in the rank of Sergeant.

The journey through life is not always an easy trip. There can be many bumps and potholes on the road. And it doesn't take much to find oneself veering from the straight and narrow, due to bad habits, bad associations and bad advice. Ray is a firm believer that his proudest achievement was his passage through life, from a
poor, young Black man from Florida, who came to New York City alone, and successfully negotiated his way in spite of all the obstacles that he faced.

Ray was widowed in 1973, after 23 years of marriage that produced a daughter and four grandchildren. He was the Chairman of the Board of the African American Heritage Association of Nassau County. He also served as the District Delegate of the Cerberean Society for many years in District #1. He has been a member in good standing at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of Roosevelt, New York, for the past thirty years. Ray is an avid traveler, and toured Europe extensively in 1994. His 'first love', however, is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a place that he visited every year from 1985 to 2001. Ray resides in Roosevelt, New York.