Maj. Alexander N. (Ret) Raeburn

Alexander N. Raeburn was born in Musselburgh, Scotland on February 25, 1922 to John C. Raeburn and Alice (Livingston) Raeburn. He is survived by his three daughters, Judy Soderquist and her husband Wally, Debbie Tope and her husband Rock and Marcia Weingarten and her husband Larry, grandchildren Jeremiah Weingarten, Kirsten Soderquist and Amanda Dodd. Also surviving are step children Willis Wimber and his wife Allie and Sherry Meurer and her son Brandon Dubois. In 1927, when he was 5 years old, his family immigrated to the United States, where they joined aunts and uncles from Scotland already living in Pittsburgh, Pa.. Alex attended school and helped his parents clean offices and a local church, to help support the family. By 1939, Alex and his mom were on their own as his father, John, died from the effects of mustard gas poisoning from WWI. After graduating from high school in 1940, Alex worked at a dairy, a steel mill and a machine shop before joining the Army Air Corps in May 1943. It was at one of their USO clubs that Alex met his future wife and mother of their three daughters, Kathleen Baker, a sweet & smart southern belle from Arkansas. They married on Sept 30, 1944, and shortly after their wedding, Alex was stationed in the Philippines during WWII until 1947 when he returned to the U.S. to attend college and start a family. Alex became a U.S. citizen on Dec 19, 1951. After graduating from the University of New Mexico, he was recalled to active duty in the Air Force, and served his country during the Korean and Vietnam wars. His daughters fondly remember their Dad returning home from many flying missions with treats for them in his flight suit pockets. Alex never hesitated to share stories of his adventures as a pilot, but only recently let his daughters know that he had been awarded the Air Medal at Nha Trang in Vietnam for his courage on combat missions. His last tour of duty was in England, where he and Kathy enjoyed the English hospitality and played tourist around England, Wales and his native Scotland. After retiring from the U.S. Air Force in October 1972, Alex and the family returned to Albuquerque where he started his own tax consulting business "Tax by Alex" with Kathy's help and also became a licensed real estate agent. Alex and Kathy both enjoyed dancing, particularly learning to square dance, advancing to challenge levels and hosting groups of square dancers in their home. They also enjoyed traveling, taking trips for square dancing weekends and Hawaii to escape the NM winter in January. After 54 years of marriage, Alex lost his wife Kathy on Nov 11, 1998. It was over a year before Alex started going to the senior center dances where he would meet his lovely second wife Allene Kennedy. Since both of them had very simple ceremonies for their earlier weddings, Alex threw them a party to remember at the Sheraton Hotel when they were married on January 29, 2005 in Albuquerque. Alex and Allene loved to dance and travel and spent their honeymoon with his family in Hawaii in 2006. Allene was his "Sunshine" until her death on Oct 20, 2010. Alex enjoyed buying assorted toys for donating to children at Christmas and spent over 10 years delivering meals to home-bound friends through the Meals on Wheels program. Alex devoted these last 3 years to working with his favorite charities and was generous with his time and resources. The fall was one of his favorite times of the year, when he recruited his family to help buy new winter coats for disadvantaged children and then gave them to "From the Heart" Foundation to be distributed. So this year his friends and family would like to continue this tradition for him. In lieu of flowers, if so inclined, please consider bringing a new winter coat to the memorial service to be given to disadvantaged children through the "From the Heart" Foundation. Suggested sizes for boys and girls are 4-12. Alex's love for life, people and his sense of duty will continue to be an inspiration to his family and those who knew and loved him. A life well lived is a blessing forever.