Bodybuilder won 2 major titles

Ray Routledge, 77, a bodybuilder who held the titles of Mr. America and Mr. Universe in 1961, was found dead Nov. 12 in his San Bernardino apartment. He died of complications related to cancer, said Pete Walker of McKay’s Family Community Mortuary in San Bernardino.

Routledge appeared on the cover of several muscle magazines in the 1960s and competed as a bodybuilder into the 1970s.

From 1958 to 1962, he won several muscleman competitions, including amateur Mr. Universe, which was organized by the National Amateur Bodybuilders Assn., and Mr. America, then sponsored by the Amateur Athletic Union.

“He was world-famous in some ways,” Tim Fogarty, a Los Angeles-based archivist for the sport told the Riverside Press-Enterprise earlier this month. “Those were the two biggest competitions, and everyone in America would have known the current Mr. America.”

Raymond Zachary Routledge was born Oct. 9, 1931, in Elizabeth, N.J.

While serving in the Air Force, he taught physical education and later operated a gym in San Bernardino.