Print Email

"All his life, he wanted to live in the mountains," said his mother, Mary Shriver, of Salina.

"Ray was a nature lover, and a very private man," she said. "He lived like he wanted to, and I'm very proud of him."

Friends and family will gather today in Jackson and pay tribute to Ray Shriver, 63, who died Wednesday of injuries he suffered in a helicopter crash about 40 miles north of Jackson.

The service will take place at 4 p.m. in the Center for the Arts in downtown Jackson. In lieu of flowers, Shriver's family requests donations to the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, earmarked for the Ray Shriver Search and Rescue Fund.

He was on a mission to rescue a snowmobiler when the crash occurred, said Charlotte Reynolds, a spokeswoman for Teton County, whose office was near Shriver's.

Ray Shriver, the senior engineering technician and sanitarian for Teton County, was among the original members of the county's nonprofit search and rescue team and had been involved in more than 400 missions, his mother said.

Teton County Search and Rescue provides free search and rescue services to anyone in the county and the surrounding area, according to the nonprofit group's website.

Ray Shriver had been a search and rescue volunteer since 1993. He was inspired to join after he and his sons, Zach and Matt, were involved in an avalanche on Teton Pass in 1991, while back-country skiing. No one was injured, according to Ray Shriver's obituary.

Also a rescue dog handler, he was involved in the Wyoming Canine Search and Rescue.

"Ray was a dedicated volunteer who put his heart and soul into his volunteerism through search and rescues," Reynolds said. "He was widely respected and recognized as someone who took the necessary training and countless hours that go into being prepared for any rescue."

The crash occurred between 1 and 2 p.m. Wednesday, Reynolds said.

Others in a snowmobile party had reported the snowmobile crash. Shriver and another volunteer boarded a helicopter with a pilot and headed north. The helicopter landed to visit with those who reported that Steven Anderson, 53, of Morris, Minn., had crashed. They feared he had died.

"They left, hoping they would fine someone alive," Reynolds said. However, Anderson had died.

After landing, the other snowmobilers offered to lead the helicopter to Anderson. The rescuers took off again. Witnesses reported seeing the tail rotor stop and the helicopter begin to spin before it dipped behind a ridge line and crashed.

The communications center back in Jackson lost touch with the helicopter, but a ground response team already was assembling to help with the snowmobile crash.

The helicopter pilot was able to re-establish communications, which brought a second rescue effort with a ground crew and additional air support, Reynolds said. The Civil Air Patrol located the helicopter crash site in a wooded ravine, she said.

The county coroner has reported that Shriver died of internal injuries, Reynolds said. The pilot, Ken Johnson, 62, and the other volunteer, Mike Moyer, 44, a battalion chief with Jackson Hole Fire & EMS, suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Traffic Safety Board are investigating the crash, Reynolds said.

"Ray was considered a legend in Jackson," Mary Shriver said.

A 1966 graduate of Salina Central High School, Ray enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves in 1968 and was called to active duty in 1971, serving a tour of duty in Nurnberg, Germany. He was honorably discharged from military service in 1973.

"Ray loved the natural world," his obituary reads, "but nothing was more important to him than family."

-- Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by email at tunruh@salina.com.

Discuss This Story:

Email this story to a friend:

Subject:

Recipient:

Sender's email (required):



Enter text seen above: