Obituary of Raymond Gombach

Raymond Gombach, age 79, of Waldwick, NJ passed away on Thursday, November 17, 2016. Raymond was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1937 and lived in Allendale before moving to Waldwick. He attended Bard College, where he graduated with a degree in Drama in 1959. At Bard, he met his wife Jayne, and the two were married in 1959. He began his career as a professional actor in New York and appeared on stage and television. Raymond later worked in printing sales in the New York area, servicing many large insurance and financial institutions. He was the President and CEO of Latham Process Corp. and later Vice President of Sales at Strategic Content Imaging, where he spurred innovation in on-demand printing. Raymond also had a keen interest in the history of FM radio. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was instrumental in producing the NYC FM Programming Guide, for a time serving as its president. He was the long-time president of the Patch Open Foundation, a charitable organization that gave millions of dollars over the past 40 years to various vision-related organizations, such as the Fidelco, the Braille Institute, and the Jewish Guild for the Blind. A true renaissance man, Raymond was also a Biblical storyteller, model railroader, author, musician, and singer. He traveled the country giving workshops and performances as part of the Network of Biblical Storytellers. He wrote many storytelling books and produced collected lectures that are in use in colleges as far away as South Korea. Raymond, his family and many friends from near and far spent countless happy hours at Raymond and Jayne's second home, a farm in Unadilla, New York, where he often proudly declared his cornfield would be "knee high by the Fourth of July!" He is survived by his wife Jayne and his three children, James, Elizabeth, and Alexander, as well as his seven grandchildren: Jack, Priscilla, Samuel, Liliane, Liam, Luke, and Raymond. His grandchildren were one of the highlights of his later life. He loved nothing more than creating board games for them and playing hours of Bingo, Monopoly and, of course, Candyland. Raymond was a committed member of The West Side Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood, NJ, serving various roles over the years as choir member, deacon, lay reader and teacher. A memorial service will be held at West Side on Sunday, November 27, 2016 at 2pm. It may also be seen live streamed via www.westside.org.