Obituaries : * Raymond S. Lilinthall, Retired GM Manager

Raymond S. Lilinthall, a longtime Pleasant Valley Lions Club member, died Sunday of a rare lung disease. He was 60.

Lilinthall, who was born June 2, 1935, in Orange, N.J., lived in Ventura County for the past 30 years.

The Camarillo resident retired from General Motors, where he was transportation manager of the Van Nuys plant, which closed in 1992.

“His father came to California when it was being constructed and opened the plant, and my father closed it,” said Lilinthall’s daughter, Lee Ann Lilinthall of Carlsbad.

Lilinthall was an avid golfer and loved computers, having bought one of the earliest computers commercially available, his daughter said.

His passion was the Pleasant Valley Lions Club, where he served as president in 1977-78 and was honored as an outstanding club member by receiving the Melvin Jones fellowship in 1994-95. A $1,000 donation from the Pleasant Valley Lions Club was then given in his name to Lions Club International.

In 1993-94, Lilinthall was honored as the Pleasant Valley club’s Lion of the Year. That year, he was instrumental in developing a traveling casino game and made game tables for the club to bring to events and parties, said club member Paul Hawblitzel. Proceeds from the game help the blind. The primary concern of the Lions Club is to raise money to help cure blindness, Hawblitzel said.

The Pleasant Valley Lions Club will dedicate to Lilinthall the club’s “White Cane Days” fund-raising event on Oct. 6 and 7, Hawblitzel said. “He’s been one of the most outstanding Lions we’ve had in the club over the years,” he said.

Lilinthall is survived by his wife, Marge Lilinthall of Camarillo; his daughter, Lee Ann; his sister, Ellen Hawkins of Camarillo; his brother, John Lilinthall of Burbank; and three nieces and one nephew.

Rosary will be recited at 7:30 tonight at St. Mary Magdalen Church in Camarillo.

Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the church, with Msgr. John Hughes officiating. Burial will be in Conejo Mountain Cemetery in Camarillo.

Donations in memory of Raymond Lilinthall, who died of interstitial lung disease, may be sent to the American Lung Assn. or Pleasant Valley Lions Club White Cane Days.

Arrangements are under the direction of Pierce Brothers Griffin Mortuary in Camarillo.