AHO, ALLEN R.

Allen “Ray” Aho of Monmouth died on June 25 [2003] in Monmouth. He was a retired Portland police officer. He was 81.

He was born in Castle Rock, Wash., and raised in nearby Toledo, Wash.

A talented high school athlete he played baseball and was the leading scorer for the school’s basketball team.

During World War II he served with Edson’s Raiders, a legendary, Marine jungle fighting battalion. As a corporal he fought in a number of battles including the assault on Okinawa and was one of the first Marines to occupy Tokyo.

After the war he worked several seasons on a commercial fishing vessel in Alaska before attending Seattle’s Edison Technical School and Portland’s Multnomah College.

He joined the Portland Police Department in 1955 and retired in 1986 after spending most of his career as a highly regarded criminalist in the Identification Division.

After retiring, he and his wife, Ione spent their winters in Tucson, Ariz., and summers in Monmouth.

He was a longstanding member and past Master of the Portland Friendship Masonic Lodge. He was also a member of the Finnish American Club of Tucson and the Portland Retired Police and Widows Association.

His hobbies included metal and woodworking.

Survivors include his wife, Ione, whom he married in 1955; daughter, Gayle of Beaverton; and two sons, Erik of Sonoma, Calif., and Todd of Santa Ynez, Calif.

Memorial services were July 1 at McVicker’s Fir Lawn Mortuary in Toledo, Wash.

Contributions may be made to the Toledo High School Scholarship Fund in Toledo, Wash.

Farnstrom Mortuary in Independence handled the local arrangements.