Solomon BEAR was 22-years-old when he came to Iowa in 1854, searching for promising farmland. Pleased with the prospects, Solomon returned to Pennsylvania and in 1857 he moved his family to temporary quarters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Solomon set out on foot, making the 200-mile trip to Ringgold County in search of 'school land.' He made this trip three times, all three times on foot, before the BEARS settled in what would become Monroe Township of Ringgold County. Each of Solomon's trips took eight days to complete.

Ramon BEAR was one of four children born to Orville Nelson "Doc" and Donna Leslie (STEVENS) BEAR, the great-grandson of Solomon BEAR. Ramon attended Mount Brush County School, located east of Mount Ayr. His teacher was Maxine SICKELS with whom Ramon remained in touch with long after he left her classroom.

The Great Depression impacted the BEAR family farming operation. Orville and Donna moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1946. They returned to Mount Ayr in 1951.

During his high school years, Ramon was a member of the FFA Chapter under the guidence of Mr. HAUPTMANN and took physics and business classes with O. C. "Pop" VARNER. Ramon credits Mr. GEIGER for making the greatest impression on him and guiding him toward his future engineering career.

At the time, schools did not employ guidance counselors. One day, Mr. GEIGER stopped Ramon in the hall to ask what his plans were after high school. Ramon said he'd like to become a pilot. A few weeks later, Ramon was fitted with eyeglasses to correct his near-sighted vision. On the first day Ramon came to school wearing his glasses, Mr. GEIGER stopped him in the hall, saying, "Ray, you know you are not going to make it into the Air Force Flight Program with those on. Why don't you go to Iowa State? They have an aeronautical engineering program. After we find out the entrance requirements, I'll help you get the necessary courses to enroll."

One of the requirements was a geometry course which Ramon hadn't taken and he was already half-way through the school year. Mr. GEIGER arranged for Ramon to take an accelerated course with Mrs. SMITH. Ramon worked hard, earning a "B", then graduated from Mount Ayr with the class of 1953.

He graduated with a degree in aeronautical engineering [present-day aerospace engineering] from Iowa State University in 1957. One week after graduation, Ramon and Delores GRAVITT were married. After their honeymoon, the couple moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where Ramon began his career with McDonnell Aircraft, retiring in 1989.

During his employment with McDonnel, there was little use of computers, the technology not available until the end of Ramon's career. Instead, aricrat was desinged by mechanical calculations after which a model was constructed and tested in wind tunnel trials. Later, the aircraft was 'flown' by test pilots in a fixed simulator. If the craft passed all testing, a protype was constructed and flown in actual free flight by a test pilot.

Because all of Ramon's projects were on contract to various branches of the United States Military, he was required to obtain top-secret clearance from the government. Although Ramon has a civilian pilot's license, he has never riden in any of the aircraft he helped design, such as the AV-8H Harrier II, F-4 Phanton 11 and the F-15 Eagle.

Ramon said, "We would cover the whole spectrum of aerodynamics, propulsion, weights, air loads, structures and the whole matrix of the aircraft. . .My work included advanced design projects. I and many others would go in and obtain requirements from the customer (Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy) and then start developing the design in the aerodynamic performances and stability control and the control systems for those 'paper airplains' sent to the production people."

Ramon received the Presidential Award from McDonnall Douglas and was asked to participate in the Copper Canyon Project, a secretive project devoted to supersonic and hypersonic flights. Ray stated, "As I was preparing to retire in 1989, I never became fully involved in this futuristic project, but what a great way to retire."

Ramon and Delores live on a small lake outside of the St. Louis city limits. He is a member of the Angler's Club. The BEARS have a son Allen who has a Masters Degree in Enviornmental Engineering and works on Homeland Security out of Rolla, Missouri. Allen and his wife Wanda have a son, Nathaniel Solomon BEAR, Solomon's great-great-great-grandson. Ramon and Delores devote quite a bit of time working on the family genealogy.

SOURCE: FETTY, Jack. Rings of Gold Pp. 2-11. Palindrome Pub. Co. Iowa. 2007.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, June of 2010