David F. Rayer, 90 most recently of Ridley Park and formerly of Swarthmore Wood, died on September 3, 2020.  Dave Rayer, "Reds" to some, Dad to his 3 children and their spouses; Poppy to 9 grandchildren and great-grandchildren and their spouses/partners and Uncle Dave to many nieces and nephews was born in South Philadelphia on August 24, 1930.

Dave was a loving and generous man.  He was not a man to seek attention, but was rather someone family and friends sought out, whether it was to sit and talk at a family gathering; to have breakfast at a local diner or to just watch football at home.

Dave worked all but the last two years of his life.  At a young age, he would run the streets of South Philly notifying neighbors when they had a telephone call at the "pay phone" located in the corner store run by his mother Beatrice.  Dave left school at age 14 to get a full-time job and as he said, "handed his paycheck right to his mother".  On September 7, 1948, Dave was hired by ITE and worked for ITE and its successor companies SPD Technologies and Gould for 42 years.   Retirement was not a word Dave understood and directly after ITE, Dave accepted a job with the ITE Federal Credit Union, at one time holding the position of Chairman.  When Sun East Federal Credit Union acquired the ITE Federal Credit Union, they "acquired" Dave too!  He retired from Sun East, as a Marketing Coordinator in 2018 at the age of 88.

Not having the opportunity to finish school in his teens, Dave attended night school and proudly earned his degree from the Standard Evening High School of the School District of Philadelphia on January 24, 1964.  Dave served in the United States Navy Reserves.

Dave enjoyed watching football and golf (although he was not a fan of Jon Rahm) and watched CNN and read the paper to keep up with current events.  Cooking was one of Dave's many skills and a family gathering was not complete unless there was a pot of Uncle Dave's meatballs heating on the stove.  For as long as anyone can remember, his favorite night time snack was a tall glass of cold milk and a Tastykake Chocolate Junior.  He loved his family, and had a special connection with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who were his frequent visitors.  The youngest, Cormac liked to show his Poppy the latest videos on YouTube.  And, you can't think of Dave without thinking of lottery tickets.  As his eldest granddaughter Amanda said, "Poppy loved a good scratch off!"

Dave married Eileen Allen on October 24, 1953.  Eileen, his spouse of 55 years, died on September 3, 2008.

Dave is the son of the late William and Beatrice (nee Lloyd) Rayer and brother of the late Thomas W. Rayer, Sr., the late Michael J. Rayer, Sr., and the late Eva (nee Rayer) D'Alessandro.

Dave is survived by his children, Edward D. Rayer (Claudia), Kathleen Curran and Timothy D. Rayer (Maria); his grandchildren, Amanda Meloney (TJ), Timothy Rayer (Alaina), Diana Rayer (Alex), Niko Rayer (Jeremiah) and Zachary Curran (Karen); also, his great grandchildren, Madison, Payton, Teague and Cormac and many nieces and nephews.

Memorial gifts may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105.

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, a Memorial Service will be announced at a later date.