Dr. Raymond Leslie Sphar Jr, US Naval Captain, and longtime resident of Washington, DC, died on October 16, 2024 at Walter Reed Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr Sphar, a native of Charleroi, Pennsylvania,  and a graduate of Westminster College, was the son of Alma Josephine Sphar and Raymond Leslie Sphar, Sr. He attended Thomas Jefferson Medical College where he received his MD in 1961. In 1972 he earned his MPH at Yale University.

Dr. Sphar enlisted in the US Navy in 1963. He served as medical officer on two nuclear submarines, commanded two navy research facilities, and he held a variety of assignments in New London, CT and Washington, DC. He served as Director of Undersea and Radiation Medicine in the Navy Surgeon General’s office, and as Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for medical and life science’s research. He was proud to share stories from his time spent as the first in a series of exchange officers who would serve with the Royal Navy. Captain Sphar’s military decorations include the Navy Legion of Merit and the Department of Defense Superior Service medal. He retired from the US Navy in 1990 and a year later he was appointed Director of Medical Research Service in the Department of Veterans Affairs where he focused research efforts on HIV/AIDS in the early 1990’s.

Ray loved to travel, he was an avid reader, he played the piano and organ, and he loved poodles. Ray enjoyed spending weekends at his other home in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, and in his later years, he enjoyed spending winters in Palm Springs, California. While the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, DC was his home for 46 years he enjoyed dining in the many fine restaurants within walking distance of his home, and enjoyed many performances at the Kennedy Center. In fact, he occasionally hosted  pianists who were performing at the Kennedy Center so they could practice on his piano and have a comfortable place to stay near the venue.

Ray is survived by his daughter, Christina Sphar (Jerome Kuh) and his two grandsons, Joshua and Riley Kuh; as well as his cousin, Laura Flohr Kruse. He is preceded in death by his parents, his former wife, Jean Cusick Sphar, his dear first cousin, Linda Gillie Flohr,  and longtime friend, Harry Deutsch.

A private service at Arlington National Cemetery will be scheduled in the upcoming months.