Later Years and Legacy
He moved to KGGM-TV, the CBS affiliate in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1981, before retiring from television in 1989. He cited the harsh Chicago winters as the motivating factor. Rayner was the station's weatherman, complete with notes pinned to his jacket as they were to his coveralls in Chicago; he also hosted the local PM Magazine in Albuquerque. He returned to Chicago for the 25th and 30th anniversary shows for Bozo's Circus. Rayner continued to accept some Chicago theater roles and took some time to patiently answer children's questions about his work even after moving to Albuquerque. He did a week-long stint filling in at weather and other duties at Chicago's "Fox Thing in the Morning" on WFLD in May 1995. Rayner took some courses at the University of New Mexico, did some teaching and wrote a column for a local newspaper there.
Rayner moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida after his wife, Jeanne, a former nurse, died of lung cancer in 1995. His activities there included reading to the blind, Grant A Wish (for terminally ill children), and delivering Meals on Wheels.
He died on 21 January 2004, of complications from pneumonia in Fort Myers, Florida at the age of 84. He is survived by his second wife, Marie, daughter Christina Miller, his son Mark Rahner, and his grandchildren Patrick, Sean, Hilary Miller and Troy Rahner.
Clips from Rayner's shows are featured in the WGN Christmas special, Bozo, Gar and Ray: WGN TV Classics. In 2005, the Museum of Broadcast Communications awarded WGN-TV's Studio 1 a plaque to commemorate the forty years of children's television broadcast from the studio. Ray Rayner and Friends with a likeness of Rayner and Chelveston, is on the plaque along with Frazier Thomas and Garfield Goose and Friends and Bob Bell and Bozo's Circus. Rayner's coveralls, complete with notes, and one of his Oliver O. Oliver costumes are part of the museum's collection. Cuddly Dudley and his doghouse are also part of the museum's collection. A photo of Rayner on the set of his television show with two guests was chosen as the cover photo for Chicago Television, published for the Museum of Broadcast Communications in 2010.
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