Last Alarm: Saturday, March 12, 1977, Lake Pleasant
Age: 27 years old
Served for: 6 years
Cause: Drowned during rescue (LODD I)

Firefighter Chauncey Ray II of Engine 23 swam into a very cold Lake Pleasant to save drowning children. He was followed by Engineer Walter Kelson. Both men drowned but the children survived.

Chauncey was born September 18, 1949 in Phoenix, and as a young man served in the United States Navy in Vietnam. Chauncey was survived by his wife, sons and sisters. He was buried at the Greenwood Firefighter’s cemetery by the Bell Tower; his grave is marked with a red cross during the annual Fallen Fire Fighter Memorials each January.

His son, Chauncey III, is a Phoenix firefighter.

Interment:
Greenwood Memorial, 2300 W. Van Buren, 85009.
Forest Lawn section, Block 174, Lot 3, Space 3.
(SW of the Firefighters’ Bell Tower, 3W-7S)
Historical Marker placed Sep 25th 2010, 435 N. 7th St (W of his High School, old Phoenix Union HS)