Raymond F. Kennedy

Raymond F. Kennedy of Pleasantville, N.Y., died on 3/14/2018 at the age of 87. He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on 1/28/1931.
Ray was a proud veteran of the Navy, having served from 1951 to 1955.
He was a musician who played the bass; he graduated from Juilliard, which he attended on the GI Bill. He played with big bands, including those of Les and Larry Elgart and Johnny Long. He received his master's from Queens College and continued his studies at Columbia University. He became an ethnomusicologist with interests in both Pacific music and American popular music in culture. He was a dedicated teacher, serving on the faculties of CUNY John Jay College, Columbia University, the University of Hawaii, Hofstra University and The College of Guam. He was the author of the award-winning educational filmstrip "Pop Music in the Twentieth Century."