I am sorry to report that Raymond Ramsay (Ray) Thompson passed away on June 22 in Halifax NS. Ray was born in England, educated at the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, lived in Maple (then a village, now an outer suburb of Toronto), was an elementary school teacher and principal for 25 years, then a private music teacher for 25 years. He had many interests and talents, but astronomy (along with music and his family) was his greatest passion. During his astronomy career of over half a century, he won the RASC's Chant Medal and Chilton Prize for his research accomplishments, and won AAVSO Observer Awards for sunspots and variable stars, especially PEP observing; at the time of his retirement, he was our most prolific PEP observer. He was a co-author with me on three papers. He and his wife Ilse (who died in 2013) were delightful people, regulars at astronomical meetings, usually travelling in their little RV van. A longer obituary will be published in the AAVSO Newsletter.
John Percy