By Emily J. Minor
OCEAN RIDGE — Rayden Jacob Cody, a man of faith and family who in his retirement years picked up the grandkids every day at school in his Cadillac, died April 5 at age 90.
Mr. Cody went into the hospital for appendicitis surgery, which was successful, but his lungs never fully recovered, said his daughter Mary Ann Cody. He had suffered with a breathing ailment for years, thought to have been brought on by asbestos exposure as a young man.
Born Oct. 27, 1927, in Montpelier, Vermont, Mr. Cody and his brothers eventually joined their father, Richard, to form Cody Enterprises. The successful family business owned and operated movie theaters, bowling alleys, coin laundries, car dealerships and other real estate holdings in and around Montpelier and Burlington, Vermont.
Without ever attending college, Mr. Cody and his brothers were known as savvy business owners. At one time, they owned Burlington’s Strong Theater and, after a devastating fire burned it down along with many other business, the Flynn Theater.
It was in the days before television, when going to the movies was the favorite entertainment, said his daughter. When theater business declined because “everyone was tuning in to TV,” the family grew its car dealership business, said Mary Ann Cody.
At his side for 68 years — during all those Vermont winters and then, eventually, all those warm Florida sunrises — was Ann Kathryn Handy Cody. Mary Ann Cody said one of the favorite family stories is how the two met. When Mr. Cody was 7 years old and in the first grade, he came home from school to report his day to his mother.
“Who’s the prettiest girl in the class?” she is said to have asked him. His answer? “Ann Handy.”
Years later, when they were seniors in high school, those two grade-school friends started dating and were married on Nov. 10, 1949. The former Ann Kathryn Handy and Mr. Cody had two daughters, Mary Ann, formerly of Albany, N.Y., and now living with her mother in Ocean Ridge, and Vicki Cody Mack, of suburban Boynton Beach.
Because of his success, Mr. Cody was able to retire before he turned 60. In 1984, the couple moved to Delray Beach to be near family. Three years later, they moved to Ocean Ridge. At this home, Mr. Cody took the old treadmill he’d had for years, positioned it in a room with an ocean view and walked 4 miles on that treadmill every day. While he was walking, he also said four rosaries, Catholic prayers recited with counting beads.
“Four miles and four rosaries, that was his routine,” said Mary Ann Cody.
A devoted grandfather to his three grandchildren, Mr. Cody — who attended Mass daily when he was well enough — created years of memories with his grandkids.
“They called him Grandfather and they love those memories from him picking them up at school,” Mary Ann remembered. They’d get a snack, and then he’d take them home, she said.
Mr. Cody was so loved in his family that 20 of his 32 nieces and nephews flew in for “Uncle Ray’s” funeral on April 9 at his Florida parish, St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church. Besides his grandchildren, Mr. Cody is survived by four great-grandchildren and many other family members.
He was buried at Boynton Beach Memorial Park. Any memorial contributions may be made to St. Vincent Ferrer Care Ministry.
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