Obituary, Transcribed from “Ohio Wesleyan Magazine”:
Col. RAYMOND M. CHESELDINE, December 24, 1954, in the Naval Hospital, Corona, Calif., after a long illness. Col. Cheseldine had a distinguished career in both military and civilian life. He served with the 4th Ohio Regiment, National Guard, during the Mexican hostilities, and when that unit was federalized as the famous Rainbow Division he was promoted to captain and served overseas from 1917 to 1919. The regimental history, “Ohio in the Rainbow”, was written by him during this time. After the war he became publisher and editor of the London (Ohio) Press, but returned to active duty as lieutenant colonel in the Militia Bureau in Washington, D.C., in 1924. In 1929 he returned to civilian life as a business analyst for Standard Statistics Company, New York. In 1933 he joined the staff of the banking and industrial committee of the Federal Reserve Board, later was appointed special analyst for the Federal Trade Commission, and afterwards served as executive secretary to the Committee for Economic Recovery. Soon after the outbreak of World War II he became an assistant in the industrial division of the Office of the Chief of Ordnance in Washington. In 1945 he was promoted to colonel and went to Germany as an economic adviser to the American Military Government under General Lucius Clay. He returned to the U.S. in 1946 as a branch deputy chief in the civil affairs divisions of the Office of the Chief of Staff, and in 1947 he was made an executive assistant to the Undersecretary of the Army. In 1950 the State Department took over the responsibility of the military government in Germany and Col. Cheseldine was assigned as Army special assistant to the director of the Bureau of German Affairs. In 1951 he was retired for physical disability and moved to California. He was a member of the Methodist Church, a 32nd degree Mason, and be, longed to Beta Theta Pi, serving as vice president of its national convention in 1953. Surviving are his widow, his son, Raymond M., Jr., '50, his mother, and his brother, Kenneth G. Cheseldine, x’20. Burial was in Arlington National Cemetery.

Source: Sue Cheseldine Huntington, daughter of Raymond.
NOTES:
Raymond Cheseldine was the first born son of Charles Cheseldine and Elizabeth Minshall. He attended school in London, Ohio and graduated from Ohio Weslyn University in Delaware, Ohio. This is a Methodist University still in existance today and is considered an excellent university. After graduation, Raymond took the "European Tour." He came home early due to the beginning of W.W. I.

He married Dorothy Canfield of Los Angeles in 1915. They lived for awhile in London, Ohio where their children were born. They divorced in 1926. Raymond was in W.W.I He met his second wife Stella Smith in Washington D.C. while he was in the military. They were married after their divorces. He had two daughters and a son by his first wife, and a son, Skip, by his second wife. One daughter, Sue, presently lives in California and his son, Skip, lives in Chicago. Much of Raymond's life was spent in the Military.

Raymond had fantastic military and civilian careers. He went to WWI and served as a Captain with the 166th Infantry of the famous Rainbow Division. After the War he went home to London where he owned and operated the London Press. In 1924 he returned to Active Duty as a Lt. Colonel with the Militia bureau. Came 1929 he had returned to civilian life and became a business analyst for Standard Statistics in New York. In 1933 he joined the staff of the Federal Reserve Board. When WWII broke out he served as an assistant to the Chief of Ordnance, and in 1945 was promoted to Colonel. He was sent to Germany where he served as advisor to General Lucius Clay, American Military Governor. He was made executive assistant to the Undersecretary of the Army in 1947. When he retired in 1951 he moved to California.

His second marriage to Stella they lived in Port Washington, Long Island, NY where he worked for Standard Statistics Co. He, also, published a newspaper in Portsmouth, Ohio. While Serving in Germany in the Army of Occupation he became ill and was sent home. " His lungs were shot." He spent a lot of time at Bethesda Hospital and then in San Diego Naval Hospital and Carona, California. He was on continuous oxygen.

According to Sue Huntington, "dear old dad lived it up". Money was never a problem. At one time he owned a foreign car agency in Columbus, Ohio, owned the " Madison Press in London, Ohio."(presently called the London Press) His daughter describes him as a handsome and dashing man. He was tall and very dark complected. He usually wore a mustache. My mother thought he was the most handsome and dashing man she ever knew.
She was very proud of this cousin of hers as I am sure the rest of his Family was and is.

Source: Sue Cheseldine Huntington, California, Daughter, and Dianne Cheseldine, Adopted Granddaughter

Notes: Dorothy Canfield was the first wife of Raymond Cheseldine. Her father was an oil man in the Los Angeles area. He is said to have once owned the property where Beverly Hills is today. He and his partner supposedly had a big disagreement about drilling on that property. Canfield refused to permit the drilling.

Dorothy met Raymond Cheseldine, married him and they went to live in London, Ohio. All of their children were born and raised there. After their divorce Dorothy had a job in Columbus for a number of years. Later on she had a position in St. Louis. Dianne Cheseldine describes her as a lovely lady.