Kenneth Poe Funeral Services

April 25, 2024

CHARLOTTE – Rayford “Ray” Altman, 86, beloved husband, father, and friend, peacefully passed away on April 25, 2024, at Presbyterian Medical Center Hospice with his children by his side.  

Ray was born in Johnsonville, SC on May 27, 1937, the oldest of six children born to the late Homer H. Altman and Elizabeth “Beth” Altman. Ray graduated from Johnsonville High School in 1955 where he was a basketball and baseball letterman and a proud member of the Beta Club.  Following high school, Ray was drafted into the US Army where he was handpicked to serve in a special communications unit after attending the US Army Signal School at Fort Gordon, Georgia. He was posted to Heidelberg, West Germany at the US Army Headquarters Europe during the Cold War.  The friendships and comradery he made with his unit mates lasted the rest of his life.

After his service in the US Army, Ray joined the Central Intelligence Agency where he served more than thirty-five years as a Communications Officer and was awarded the Central Intelligence Agency Gold Medal for Commendable Service, one of the highest honors a CIA employee can receive.   His career took him to postings all over the world including India, Thailand, Puerto Rico and Tokyo, Japan, where he met his future wife, Elizabeth Schrader, a State Department employee where they caught each other’s eye in the Embassy snack bar.  They married in June of 1968 in Tokyo, Japan and soon afterwards they returned to the United States and started a family.   Ray continued working for the Central Intelligence Agency with postings to Bonn, West Germany and London, England and then finally returned to the Washington DC area where he retired. 

After the passing of his beloved wife Elizabeth, Ray moved to Pawleys Island, SC to be near his family and then, later in life, to Davidson, NC to The Pines retirement community where he made many friends and was able to be nearer to his daughter. Ray loved his family to the core of who he was.  He loved to travel and experience new places and cultures with his wife Elizabeth, and they passed this love onto their children.  Even though he traveled far he never forgot his “Sandlapper” roots of South Carolina, where he returned to as often as he could with his children.  He loved nothing more than to root for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, watching an old John Wayne movie, and spend time with his wonderful neighbors at The Pines.

Ray is survived by his son Christopher W. Altman of Bristow, VA and daughter Catherine A. Altman of Charlotte, NC and surviving sisters Joan Hatchell, Gloria (Jerry) Chastain, Cindy (Bill) Grugan and by brothers Billy G. (Ann) Altman and Harry J. (Linda) Altman and many adored nieces and nephews. 

We wish to extend our love and appreciation to his caregivers Kelly, Angie, and Mari for their love, care, and friendship they provided Ray during the last several years of his life and without whom he would have not enjoyed the quality of life that he had.

Interment will follow later at Quantico National Cemetery, Quantico, VA.

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28204 (704) 641-7606. Online condolences can be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.