Raymond M. Hair Sr.

Raymond Marshall Hair Sr., a retired insurance executive, real estate developer and 54 year resident of Meridian, died Monday, Nov. 7, 2011, at the Autumn House in Meridian of natural causes. He was 88. Services will be held Saturday, at 11 a.m., at Central United Methodist Church. Entombment will follow at a later time in the Lakeview Mausoleum at Lenoir City, Tenn., with Stephens Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Hair was born and raised in Lenoir City, Tenn., the middle child of James and Dolly Hair’s seven children. After graduating from Lenoir City High School in 1941, he enrolled at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville as an Army ROTC and business student. His student deferment at UT was cancelled after the U.S. declared war on the Axis Powers and he was inducted into the U.S. armed forces in 1942. He served his country as a member in the 1111th Army Engineer Combat Group, landing with his company on Utah beach in June, 1944 during the second wave of the Normandy invasion. He fought through France, Belgium and into Germany, participating in every major allied battle in the European Theater. His unit liberated the Nazi concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen, Germany. After the war’s end, he continued his college education in France, returning to the US in 1946 to marry Charlotte Poe, of Knoxville.

Mr. and Mrs. Hair eventually relocated from east Tennessee to Meridian in 1957, establishing insurance, employment, estate planning and real estate businesses in the Meridian area, including Meridian Personnel Service and Professional Planning Services, Inc. The latter firm built, owned and managed residential multi-family housing facilities in 22 locations throughout Mississippi during the 1970’s and 1980’s. Mr. Hair was a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and oversaw regional agencies for several life insurance companies including Jackson-based Standard Life and American Liberty Life during the 1950’s, 60’s and early 70’s. His decades of service in the insurance industry included tenure as a regional Vice-President of Voyager Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary firm of National Life of Florida.

After retiring in the late 1990’s from his real estate and investment businesses, Mr. Hair passed the time collecting and restoring classic automobiles in Meridian with friends and members of Vintage Wheels Car Club. He was a former member of the National Board of Governors of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, a member of Central United Methodist Church and an ardent supporter of the University of Tennessee.

Survivors include his son, Raymond, Jr. (Evelyn), of Denton, Texas, who currently serves as International President of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada; brother, Dorman Hair of Columbus, Ohio; sisters: Florence Evans and Agnes Kinser of Lenoir City, Tenn.; and, numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by daughter Jane Marie; wife, Charlotte; brothers: James and Gene Hair; and sister, Joyce Hawkins, all of Lenoir City.

Memorials may be made to the Central United Methodist Church in Meridian, or to the Bill Collins Fund for disabled musicians located at the Dallas-Fort Worth Professional Musicians Association in Arlington, Texas.

Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church.