Huge Marriages Search Engine!
Raymond E. Willemain of Evanston, 67, director emeritus of Alumni Relations, died of an apparent heart attack on Wednesday, Sept. 14 [1994].
A memorial service was held at Sept. 19 at the Alice Millar Chapel and Religious Center. A reception followed at the John Evans Alumni Center. Burial was private.
Donations can be made to the Ray Willemain Scholarship Fund at Northwestern or to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.
Mr. Willemain, who died at the Hartford, Mich., home where he spent some time each year, was director of alumni relations at Northwestern from 1971 to 1989. He was honored with the Alumni Medal, the University's highest alumni award in 1989 when he retired after 40 years of service as an employee of Northwestern.
"Ray Willemain was an undisputed leader in the American alumni movement and one of the nation's finest alumni directors," said Ronald D. Vanden Dorpel, vice president for University Development and Alumni Relations at Northwestern. "His more than 17 years of service as Northwestern's director of alumni relations were unparalleled in terms of growth and achievement, and he was arguably the most respected alumni executive in the United States. All of Northwestern's 142,000 alumni will mourn his untimely passing."
Under Mr. Willemain's direction, Northwestern's alumni program became known as an innovative leader, receiving recognition for the University from other institutions and numerous awards for creativity, communications, programming, publications, fund raising and leadership.
Mr. Willemain held several leadership positions with the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the professional organization serving higher education. He served as national chair for two years, and he was the recipient of the CASE Special Merit Award.
A native of Holyoke, Mass., Mr. Willemain was a radio major at Northwestern and received his bachelor's degree from the School of Speech in 1948. He was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity, Wildcat Council and Deru men's honorary. He established central rush on the campus and was its first central chairman.
Mr. Willemain's first position after graduation was as assistant manager of Abbott Hall on the Chicago campus. He became manager in 1953, assuming responsibility for the facility that housed students and several businesses. He also served as advisor to Deru and Delta Upsilon and was president of Alumni Interfraternity Council Board.
Mr. Willemain became director of personnel at Northwestern in 1958. He centralized University recruitment, hiring and the wage and benefit program. His innovations included a "hot line for opportunity," which job-seekers called to learn about current job openings.
A long-time member and past president of the Evanston Rotary Club, Mr. Willemain served on that organization's board of directors. He was a member of the Evanston School District 65 Board of Education and served as chair of the District 65 Caucus. He was vice president of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce and director of the Evanston Family Counseling Service, Evanston United Fund and St. Francis Child and Adult Guidance Center.
Mr. Willemain is survived by three children, Jeffrey of Evanston, Judith Paras of Indianapolis and Sandra McDermott of Glenview; two stepsons, Scott Alsterda of Wilmette and John Alsterda of Chicago; seven grandchildren; and a brother, Bernard of Phoenix, Md.
