Raymond R. Wells, 78, of Barrington Hills retired in 1980 after more than 20 years as a music teacher, most recently for 15 years at Algonquin Middle School, where he led the school band. Mr. Wells previously taught music at an elementary school in Western Springs. Mr. Wells, a Chicago native, died Saturday, June 10, in Vencor Hospital in Sycamore, Ill. Mr. Wells, a graduate of Calumet High School in Chicago, served with the 122nd Field Artillery Unit of the Illinois National Guard, where he attained the rank of technical sergeant in 1940. He served in the Army during World War II as a bandleader in Hawaii, the Philippines and elsewhere in the Pacific at the rank of warrant officer. Mr. Wells received a bachelor’s degree from Chicago Musical College, now part of Roosevelt University, in the 1950s. Mr. Wells was named teacher of the year for the 1979-80 school year by the Community Unit School District 300 Board of Education. “He could play clarinet, saxophone, all the wind instruments,” said his wife, Dorothy T. “He could play all the instruments. He was a very talented person in music. He was very entertaining. He was a very quick-witted person. He was a very fine person, interested in the community.” A visitation will be held from 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesday in Willow Funeral Home, 1425 W. Algonquin Rd., Algonquin. A mass will be said at 10 a.m. Wednesday in St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, 111 S. Hubbard St., Algonquin.
