|
Kimberly Faith Pelletier-Clo and Raymond Pelletier Jr. share the platform for the last time with their dad. |
|
|
Simon
Says: Tribute audio produced by Mick Rizzo
Lee Ann Womack
Steel Drum Magic
*** click to enlarge images
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
***
***
* * *
* * *
|
Pelletier, Raymond F. (Ray), author, business consultant, beloved husband, father, grandfather and personal friend, died Saturday, May 21, 2005 from a blood clot that developed following hernia surgery. Although it's difficult to understand how that could happen, I can hear Ray saying, "I told you God promised none of us tomorrow, " didn't I? The 57 year-old Miami resident was an entertainer with meaningful message, a magician on a positive purpose, a dreamer who believed he could help everyone. His passion for charitable organizations and youth-oriented causes, drove him to speak 16 times for the Hugh O'Brien Youth Foundation, for free. He adopted Spina Bifida as cause, after meeting a child on crutches. Ray had the ability to cast a spell over an audience. I saw him speak at a convention in Ithaca, New York in 1981. The company, Eastern AI, was there to celebrate its workforce, people who's life work was the artificial insemination of cows. Ray went into the field with a service technician to see how the job was performed. Then, on stage, in front of 2000 people, after he told them he thought this was an Eastern Airlines convention, he did a 10 minute pantomime of a technician on a service call. From the preparation to draw semen from a bull, to it's placement within a cow, Ray had them rolling in the aisle. What happens when the magician disappears? Does the magic go away as well? We'll, as Ray would probably say, 'it's just an Illusion (the first book he gave me). The magic never leaves, it's always around us, we just have to believe it is there.' Missing the obvious was the term for an element of his early presentations. His audience knew what he was talking about, because they had the benefit of perspective. But the poor subject, who reluctantly joined him on stage, was too close to see the magic, until they took the time to step back, and look around. While people were laughing, they got the point. Ray pulled a lot of us up on the stage, didn't he? He liked to tell the story of a trip to South America in the early 1980's. He was picked up at the airport by limo, taken to a suite at the hotel and told he would meet with government officials in the morning. He had a beautiful bouquet of flowers on the grand piano in the living area. The next morning, the concierge replaced the flowers. When Ray asked why, the man said, "you can't smell yesterday's flowers, today." From then on, 'stop and smell the roses' became personal. When he wrote Permission to Win, he was known as 'America's Attitude Coach.' Recently, to reflect changes in his business, he was positioned as “America’s Leadership Advisor.” Whatever he was called, whenever he was called, Ray answered. He was there when I needed him. Occasionally, he was there before I did. Ray Pelletier was internationally respected. His friends include business, education, sports, government and military leaders. He was a self-taught motivational speaker and business consultant, who early in his career used close-up magic and sleight of hand to illustrate the mental images he was speaking about. He worked with over 300 clients, but touched multiple thousands of people in a positive way. For me, it began with the 1978 Cleveland Sport and Travel Show. Ray told the show organizer he could predict the score of the Indians' home opener with the Red Sox. When he did, he was invited to visit the Red Sox press box and on a morning television show during which he did a little sleight-of-hand with sponge balls. Later that night, Ray had talked us into Don Rickles' dressing room. When Rickles saw Ray, he pointed to him and said, "I know you. You're the guy with the balls. I saw you on TV this morning." Don was right. In 1980, I hired Ray to help me promote an upstate New York ski area called Greek Peak. It was a bad year for natural snow, so ski areas had to rely on snowmaking to operate. I came up with a "magic of snowmaking' theme and Ray came up with the rest. For me, he took 'a little air, a little water and a little magic,' and made something appear out of nowhere. He was on TV in Binghamton and Syracuse. We flew to Lake Placid in a twin-engine Cessna to present Jim McKay with an award. Jim didn't know it, but Ray and I made up the award. We decided that ABC would be the 'network of the year' for the Ski Areas of New York. All it took was a nice plaque, and Ray Pelletier. But the highlight of the trip for Ray was the day his four brothers joined him in Lake Placid. Looking back, it was only fitting that he was there when the U.S. Hockey Team beat the Soviet Union. After all, Ray believed in miracles. He spoke of the power of a positive attitude to professional, college and high school athletes. From the University of Miami’s football Hurricanes to the boy's and girl's basketball teams of Miami Senior High School, Ray's work helped produce nine championship rings. His first book, entitled “Permission to Win,” was a collection of personal experiences up to that point in his life. On May 13th, one week prior to his death, he hosted a signing event for his second book, this one for business, called “It’s All About Service.” In looking back, it really was all about service for Ray. Of his many achievements, he was really proud to be a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and a member of the Speaker’s Hall of Fame. As a boy, he had a speech impediment. He was held back in second grade by Mrs. Lemon, a story he loved to share. Ray overcame obstacles because he was a dreamer, a believer and a doer, who would encourage people to achieve more for themselves than they ever thought possible. A man who shared with thousands his personal philosophy to approach each day as “January First, the first day of the rest of your life,” Ray lived the way he taught – positively and in-the-moment. “What happened yesterday,” he would say, “really doesn’t matter. You can’t change anything you said or you did.”
Ray served in the Air Force in the early ‘70s, an experience that shaped his values and prepare him for his mission in life. Among the varied tasks Airman Pelletier performed was that of the Base softball team coach. 'Bring them together as a team,' he was told. He obeyed the order. His team won. And, his journey to the big league began. Along the way, he extended his hand to many people. In a coffee shop in Sarasota in 1985, he discovered an acronym he used during team-building programs: Together Everyone Achieves More. The more successful he became, the more he realized he needed a team. It was an 'inner circle' of friends he called The Pelletier Group. General Gregory S. Martin, U.S.A.F, wrote in the foreword to Ray's new book, “It’s All About Service”: “Ray highlights the idea that leaders need to think of themselves as ‘servant-leaders.’ In other words, the leader is really serving the people he or she leads.” Clients, students and long-time friends will attest to Ray’s dedication to this concept. Above all, Ray put others before himself. He made time for anyone who needed it. And, he always did so with a self-deprecating sense of humor and his personal mantra, now on the lips of many: “Better than terrific.” More than 300 people attended the visitation Tuesday evening, May 24th. At 10 AM on Wednesday, May 25th, nearly 500 people were in the University Baptist Church in Coral Gables, Florida, to say good-bye to their friend. On hand to show respect were Brigadier General Jeffery Riemer, United States Air Force, and General Gregory S. Martin, Commander, U.S. Air Force Material Command. Both men spoke of Ray's positive impact on the attitude of Air Force officers and enlisted men and women. Both men had tears in their eyes. Ray and I met on a DC-3 in 1978. He was hired by my company to convince South American investors we had something worth investing in. As we flew through the 'Bermuda Triangle' on our way to Eleuthera, a small island in the Bahamas to visit one of our hotels, he bent a key in my wife's hand -- yes, he was flirting with her. Little did I know, it was a key that opened the door to a delightful friendship that lasted twenty-seven years. Good-bye Ray...you were right. It really was 'better than terrific.' Ken English Started: 5.25.05 / Modified: 5.30.05 / Modified: 7.14.07 / Modified: 11.20.07 / Moved Here: 12.29.08
|
|
|
