Raymond Jack "Ray" Szmanda, Sr. (June 22, 1926 – May 6, 2018) was an American

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience on a broadcast media programme or live event either on radio or television. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaki ...

known throughout the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

as the spokesperson for

Menards Menard, Inc., doing business as Menards, ( ) is an American big-box home improvement retail chain headquartered in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It is the third-largest home improvement retailer in the United States (behind Lowe's and Home Depot), wit ...

Early life

Szmanda was born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Career

Szmanda trained at the American Institute of the Air and took writing courses from the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a Public university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

and

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. He worked for radio and television stations as a staff announcer from 1951 to 1958, when he began to

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

. From 1959 to 1978, he operated the Trans-American School of Broadcasting in his hometown of

Wausau, Wisconsin Wausau ( ) is a city in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Wisconsin River and had a population of 39,994 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the core city of the Wausau ...

. His career with Menards began in 1976, where he was a fixture of the ads until his retirement in 1998. He did, however, make occasional ads with the company starting in 1999, such as Embers America. Szmanda also appeared in the 1970s

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

movie ''

The Alpha Incident ''The Alpha Incident'' (also known as ''The Alien Incident'', and ''Gift from a Red Planet'') is a 1978 American science fiction horror film directed by Bill Rebane and starring Ralph Meeker, Stafford Morgan, John F. Goff, Carol Irene Newell, ...

'' and hosted the Wausau version of ''High Quiz Bowl.'' He also served as co-anchor at

KDFW-TV KDFW (channel 4) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned and operated by the Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division alongside KDFI (channel 27) ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

from 1975 to 1978.

Death

Szmanda died on May 6, 2018, at age 91, of pneumonia, heart problems and complications from a fall.

References

External links

Ray Szmanda's website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Szmanda, Ray 1926 births 2018 deaths Military personnel from Milwaukee People from Wausau, Wisconsin People from Antigo, Wisconsin American male film actors Amateur radio people Radio and television announcers University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II