Rev. Raymond Lettre

Father Raymond Lettre was born in Berlin, New Hampshire and spent one year at seminary in 1945.   Deciding that marriage was his first vocation, he married Marjorie Mary in the mid-1950’s and together they had five children.

He earned a living as an electronics technician for the Sperry Company and began a business in his garage which eventually grew into a 10,000 square foot store in Clearwater.  He owned and operated Ray’s TV and Ray’s Computer Center for 27 years and says that his wife was an invaluable partner in life and in business.

Sadly, she passed away in 1980, and before she died asked her husband, Raymond, if he would return to the Seminary.  Fr. Ray took that conversation as an indication of the path he should follow after she was gone.   He turned the family business over to his five children and attended Eckerd College in St. Petersburg and St. Vincent De Paul Seminary in Boynton Beach.  He also attended the Jesuit-run Mater Dei Institute in Washington State, one of four training facilities for men older than 30 who are preparing for the priesthood.  He was ordained by Bishop Thomas Larkin in the Diocese of St. Petersburg on May 21st, 1988 at the age of 57.

Father Letter says his experience of having been married, a father and a grandfather helps him to understand people and to be a good priest.  He describes a time when the Catholic Church would not have allowed an older man who had lost his wife to serve the church, but after Vatican II, permission was granted to admit widowers into the Seminary.

He feels there is so much to be done in the world and says that he will just do God’s work wherever he is assigned.  If he can do that, he says, “I’ll be happy.”