Jeff Raymond

MIDDLETON
Charles Jeffrey "Jeff" Raymond, 71, died May 23, 2018 at UW Hospital due to multiple myeloma. Jeff was born on March 4, 1947 in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, the oldest of Margaret Ann "Peg" (Kelly) and Charles J. "Charlie" Raymond's six children. He attended the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, where he met his future wife, Judith Ann Pero. He graduated from UD in 1969. Jeff and Judi married after her graduation from UD on June 13, 1970 in Oyster Bay, New York. They moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where he earned his Master's in Real Estate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They started their life in Madison and raised their three children there.

Jeff and Judi created The Raymond Group and The Raymond Management Company in 1978 as a hotel development and management company. The company has grown to almost 1600 teammates and has been recognized as one of the best hotel development and management companies in the country. This success is attributed to Jeff's leadership and insisting the company focus on customer satisfaction and service. He was unrelenting and unwavering.

Jeff and Judi also created Frostwood Farms. What started with a goal of providing high quality hay for horses has evolved into an opportunity to provide jobs for kids that need work and to grow food for people that need food.

Above all else was Jeff's family. For 48 years Jeff and Judi strove for The Impossible Dream. Jeff was a beloved husband and father and a special Bapa to nine grandchildren. He taught his family many things through his words of wisdom and especially through his actions. His family will remember him fondly for his love of showing the grandchildren his hay farms and tractors and taking them on ranger rides through the fields. Jeff loved being together with the family whether it was on the Florida beaches or enjoying his backyard in the summertime. Jeff and Judi's strong family of five grew to seventeen.

Jeff is survived by his wife Judi; daughter Annie (Dirk) Bartlett and grandchildren Siena and Hunter; daughter Chrissie (Mike) Hensley, and grandchildren Gus, Francie, Raymond and Georgie; and son C.J. (Mary Eileen) Raymond, and grandchildren Maura, Tess and Charlie. Jeff was the oldest of six children and is survived by his siblings Jim (Laura) Raymond, Patty (Jerry) Muehr, Sude (Steve) Tanke, Marikaye (Bob) Schweitzer, and John (Gera) Raymond, and many nieces and nephews.

The family would like to thank the doctors and staff at the UW Hospital and the Carbone Center, especially Dr. Walter Longo and Dr. Natalie Callandar.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. at OUR LADY QUEEN OF PEACE CHURCH, 401 S. Owen Drive, Madison, on Tuesday, May 29, 2018. Monsignor Kenneth J. Fiedler will preside.

In honor of Jeff, and in lieu of flowers, the family suggest donations to Our Lady Queen of Peace School Endowment Fund, Edgewood High School, or The Jeff Raymond Scholarship (Class of '69) at the University of Dayton, (Office of Advancement, 300 College Park, Dayton, Ohio 45469-7055).

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Cress Funeral & Cremation Service
3610 Speedway Road Madison
(608) 238-3434