Remembering Raymond, 25 years on

WARREN

One of Curtis Shavers’ most heartfelt memories of Raymond Fife is of when they were fishing together in 1985.

The recollection, however, comes not from what 12-year-old Raymond caught, but what he uttered out of the blue.

“Me and Raymond fished together once, and he turned to me and said, ‘I love you,’” Shavers recalled, fighting back tears. “It’s something you don’t think about until after the fact. He was ahead of his time.”

Shavers was 11 then, and both were members of Warren-based Boy Scout Troop 5.

Shavers, of Warren, was among those who spoke on how Raymond impacted their lives during an event Friday marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 10, 1985, abduction and murder of 12-year-old Raymond in a wooded area off Palmyra Road. The 90-minute gathering at First United Methodist Church, 309 N. Park Ave., was to celebrate his life and accomplishments.

Other speakers were family members, elected officials and members of the prosecution team during the 1986 criminal trials and convictions of Timothy Combs, who received a life sentence, and Danny Lee Hill, who is on Ohio’s Death Row.

Read more of their recollections in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.