Raymond Harold Chilton
March 10, 1945 – Dec. 21, 2023

Raymond was born on March 10th, 1945, to Raymond Edgar Chilton and Roberta Elizabeth Green. He was raised in Willow Creek and spent his summers swimming in the Trinity River. Raymond attended Hoopa Valley High School, where he lettered in track. As a teen, he also learned auto mechanics from the hours spent working on cars and trucks with his father. Mechanics would be a lifelong skill.

After high school Raymond joined the Navy and was stationed in Hawaii. After he was discharged from the Navy, he made his way back to Willow Creek and began a career in the timber industry, which began a lifelong love affair with logging and living in the mountains. Raymond’s hobbies included riding his Harley and writing poetry.

Raymond passed away on December 21, 2023, in his home in the mountains which is where he wanted to be.

He is survived by his six children, Johnny Chilton-Randle, Marie Chilton, Elizabeth Chilton-Parker, Harley Chilton, Joseph Chilton, his step-daughter Carol Snyder, life partner Ellen Callaghan, siblings Connie Chilton-Jones, Jeff Chilton, Jimmy Chilton, and numerous grandchildren, nephews, nieces, sons-in-law, and daughters-in-law.

A Good Lesson

When I was young…Oh, just a kid,
Fool around in school is all I did.
“Son”…said Dad “if your grades aren’t better,
You’ll wind up being a choke setter”.

Well, I was sittin’ on a log…yesterday…
A’ thinkin’ back…I could hear him say,
“Son, in the woods, do the best you can,
For loggin’s gonna make you a man”.

Well dig my grave with an old D-8.
In this land of toil,
Plant a fir tree in my heart,
Because I love this soil.

— Raymond Chilton, 1981