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Raymond Durante, Man of the Atom, Dies Age 88

December 12, 2016 by Llewellyn King 5 Comments

Photo: Ray Durante with EPA Administrator Christine Todd-Whitman

By Llewellyn King

Raymond “Ray” Durante, who died at the beginning of December age 88, was a consummate man of the atom. For more than 50 years, in government and in private sector work, Ray championed the nuclear promise.

He was also a man of family, and a man of friendship. I was lucky to be his friend.

Ray was a proud graduate of the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ, where he earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering and a master’s in industrial engineering. He was a passionate supporter of the university, and remained absorbed in its alumni activities until the end of his life. Every Christmas, he and his wife, Dorothy, who died this fall, hosted a party for Stevens alumni and friends at the Congressional Country Club in Potomac, MD. It was staple of the season.

Ray’s career stretched back to assisting in the design and engineering of the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and submarine design. For the Department of the Interior, he was the manager of the Balsa Island Project, a plan in California to build nuclear plants that would produce electricity and desalinate water for Southern California.

When I met Ray, he was vice president for energy systems in the Washington office of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. He was all over the town: in and out of government offices, on Capitol Hill and at the White House.

Ray, with his capacity for friendship, worked well with both Democrats and Republicans. In that time, which cannot be recaptured, people who favored nuclear worked together across party lines. There was a nuclear establishment that believed in a whole-hearted, now-forgotten creed that nuclear would carry mankind forward, that it was a blessing.

Ray was caught up in the energy crisis of the 1970s and strongly believed nuclear power was the ideal way to generate electricity and provide process heat. Natural gas was, at that time, considered a depleted resource, oil was thought to going the same way, and renewables were only a dream. Coal and nuclear stood alone.

Over the years, his work included yeoman efforts on the technology of food irradiation and licensing Canada’s natural uranium-fueled reactor in the United States. For more than 50 years, if it was nuclear, Ray was there hands on.

His devotion to his family was just as complete. He was never happier than when he was building houses with his three sons on property in Ocean City, MD. He was also an accomplished cabinetmaker and did much of the finish work on his own home in Potomac.

He reveled in his family. As it grew to eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, his joy grew with them.

He was palpably proud of and close to his granddaughter Maggie Rose Durante, a charted country singer, who goes as “Maggie Rose” professionally. Ray was looking forward to one of her concerts when he died.

I do not know if Ray could sing. But I do know that as a friend and a father, he hit all the right notes.

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Filed Under: King's Commentaries Tagged With: Durante Associates, Inc., obituary, Raymond “Ray” Durante, Washington Energy

Comments

  1. Lizz Durante says

    December 14, 2016 at 11:21 pm

    Thank you for this beautiful tribute to my father-in-law Ray Durante. I shared your article with our extended family and I know they, too, will be pleased.

    Reply
  2. Gloria and Craig Shannon says

    December 15, 2016 at 2:59 am

    We are so sorry for your loss, our thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time. May your memories of wonderful times with your Dad help ease the pain of his passing.

    Reply
  3. Carol Olsen says

    December 15, 2016 at 12:13 pm

    Ray was one of our very favorite people, as was Dorothy. The fact that so many will miss them so greatly tells much about the way they lived their lives! I was grateful he understood ME! How often does that happen?

    FWIW, Maggie Rose’s formal name is Margaret Rose Durante Miller.

    I gave my all to attend the wake. With ME, we cannot always do what we want to,as you know. But we can greatly enjoy what we are able t o do.. My husband Ken, who had worked with Ray on new business ideas and is also a proud Stevens graduate, did attend the memorial service. It was beautifully done, as was Dorothy”s.

    Reply
  4. James and Doris Reilly says

    December 16, 2016 at 5:01 pm

    Ray loved life, loved his family , his profession and his faith. No one competed harder than Ray at golf and nothing would cause him to miss a scheduled game–even cancer. Loved the Man, loved his wife and all of you should always be proud of being a DURANTE . God will bless all of your family

    Reply
  5. Susan Landry says

    December 16, 2016 at 9:28 pm

    God bless you and all his acquaintances. Sounds like he had a great life and wonderful children! You have my sympathy. Love. Susan Landry Brannock

    Reply

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