Raymond R. "Ray" Soden (March 26, 1925 – June 22, 2012) was an American politician. Born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Soden graduated from Steinmetz High School. He went to the Air Forces Institute and the

College of DuPage College of DuPage is a public community college with its main campus in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The college also owns and operates facilities in the Illinois communities of Addison, Carol Stream, Naperville and Westmont. With more than 20,000 s ...

. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He then worked for the Illinois Bell Telephone Company and retired in 1982. Soden was a member of the

Veterans of Foreign Wars The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an organization of US war veterans, who, as military service members fought in wars, campaigns, and expeditions on foreign land, waters, or a ...

and was involved with veterans affairs. Soden lived in Wood Dale, Illinois. He served on the

DuPage County, Illinois DuPage County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, and one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 932,877, making it Illinois' second-most populous county. Its county seat is ...

Board of Commissioners and was a Republican. Soden served as president of the DuPage Forest Preserve District. In 2003, Soden was appointed to the Illinois State Senate and did not seek re-election. Soden died of lung disease at a hospital in

St. Joseph, Michigan St. Joseph, colloquially known as St. Joe, is a city and the county seat of Berrien County, Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,365. It lies on the shore o ...

.'Ray Soden, 1926-2012,' Chicago Tribune, Graydon Megan, July 27, 2012

Notes

1924 births 2012 deaths Politicians from Chicago People from Wood Dale, Illinois Military personnel from Illinois County board members in Illinois County officials in Illinois Republican Party Illinois state senators United States Navy personnel of World War II {{Illinois-statesenator-stub