Coping with Grief
We would like to offer our sincere support to anyone coping with grief. Enter your email below for our complimentary daily grief messages. Messages run for up to one year and you can stop at any time. Your email will not be used for any other purpose.
Raymond D. Pocza, age 87, passed away on January 28, 2026. Beloved husband of the late Elaine (née Ertle); loving father of Anne Marie Scharfenort (Mark), Michael Pocza (Darlene), and Lorraine LaPorta (Benny); dear grandfather of Lauren Pocza, Matthew Pocza, Samantha Scharfenort (fiancé, Tyler Kocher), Gracie Scharfenort, and Carly LaPorta.
Raymond lived a life defined by service, devotion, and unwavering character. He was also a proud United States Marine.
Ray shared 64 years of marriage with his beloved wife, Elaine. Together, they built a strong and loving family that was the center of his world.
His Marine training as a Radio Relay Technician led him to a life of entrepreneurship. Alongside his longtime friend and partner, Richard McGinnis, he founded RPM Industrial Sales, a successful manufacturers’ representative company that grew and prospered. He was always thankful for the long-term customer relationships and friendships that developed through these endeavors.
Ray’s legacy is one of commitment—to his country, his family and friends, his business relationships, and, most importantly, to the values he lived by every day. His memory will continue to inspire all who knew him.
A memorial service will be held at Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery, 10175 Rawiga Road, Rittman, Ohio, on Friday, June 12, 2026, at 2:45 p.m., with graveside funeral services and military honors. Please arrive at the cemetery Public Information Center at 2:30 p.m. to form Raymond’s funeral procession.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Raymond D. Pocza, please visit our floral store.