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Retired Chief Warrant Officer 4 Raymond A. Mabarak passed away Feb. 17. He was 98. Mabarak was widely known by NGAUS conference attendees as the Senior Minuteman recognized during the business sessions four times in recent years. He would wear his dress blues on stage before delivering a few remarks.
“This is better than winning an Oscar,” he once quipped.
Mabarak was born in Detroit in 1922. He was set to join the Army Air Corps during World War II in 1942, but served in the 97th Infantry Division because he said they needed infantrymen.
He was in Czechoslovakia when the war ended in Europe, and later served in Japan as part of the occupational force.
After the war, he joined the Michigan Army National Guard until his retirement in 1982.
Mabarak enjoyed going to military events and was often invited to share his story with school children and civic organizations around his hometown of Grosse Pointe, Mich.
He was last identified as Senior Minuteman (the attendee with the earliest commission or enlistment date) 18 months ago in New Orleans, where he was joined by one of his daughters. Afterwards, he received a VIP welcome during a reception at the nearby World War II Museum.
Survivors include his wife of 66 years, Delores; three children, Karen Linder, Alan Mabarak and Lynn Freeman; and three grandchildren.
One day his wife asked him, “Are you out of the Guard?”
“Yes,” he answered. “But the Guard is not out of me.”
