Raymond Alexander Zaboly was born in New York City on June 4, 1948. From childhood he was fascinated by animals and the outdoors, so our apartment saw plenty of birds, cats, dogs, parakeets, iguanas, turtles, salamanders, snakes, aquarium fish, etc. over the years.

He entered the Air Force in 1967, trained at Lackland, and served in Vietnam in 1969-1970. Naturally he enjoyed being in the Security Dog unit at Tan Son Nhut Air Base.

He recalled patrolling its perimeters with his dog, Lindy, in the dark of night, and sometimes seeing enemy mortars or rockets descending on the base and its outskirts.

He also remembered being in a Saigon restaurant and seeing giant insects on plates served to some of the patrons.

He was stationed at California afterwards, and when discharged he motorbiked across the country to get home.

Afterwards he tried a variety of jobs, including pet store manager in the 1970s and photo technician in the 1980s.

In 2001 he received a kidney transplant, and shortly before his death on December 7, 2019 he was considered too frail from a heart condition to receive a second kidney.

He leaves no survivors.