Mr. Jesse Dan Raybon III

The creative and joyous life of Jesse Daniel “Dan” Raybon III began on August 2, 1940, in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was the first of two children born to his beloved parents, Jesse and Laura Raybon. Dan grew up in their family home in Maplewood-Richmond Heights, Missouri, a beautiful area outside St. Louis, where he lived a childhood of bike-riding, playing with friends, trading marbles, teasing his little sister and her buddies, pilfering grapes from his neighbor’s grapevines, chasing his pet dogs, but also being a good brother and son. During that Jim Crow time, however, Dan was impacted by tensions between Blacks and Whites that affected every aspect of society. Dan and his sister Diana were mandated to attend segregated public schools. Then in high school, Dan was admitted to a “white” school, but he and friends had to fight to gain respect and racial dignity in a tense, integrated setting, With this real life as a backdrop, Dan started a journey that led to 40-plus years as an educator and, later, a diversity-awareness coach and consultant—grounded by a B.A. degree in Education from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and a Master of Arts degree in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He launched his career in teaching and counseling in elementary and middle schools in Illinois, and later in the U.S. Virgin Islands, before advancing to higher education as a counselor in the Black Education Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder, eventually directing CU’s Cultural Unity Student Center, a counseling support program for students of color on the Boulder campus. Former students still speak of his priceless contribution to their education, some saying they would not have graduated without Dan and his team’s amazing help. In Colorado, Dan met and married his wife and best friend of 49 years, Patricia. Together they built a beautiful family with daughters Joi and Alana who added five grandchildren and son-in-law Paul to their family circle, all of whom Dan treasured with unbridled kindness and love. Amid the pressures of a busy professional and personal life, Dan turned often to creative outlets and activities. A great lover of sports, he was competitive at basketball and tennis. With his mean backhand, he left many tennis opponents begging for mercy while they laughed together over their mutual love of the game. His greatest creative outlet was photography, which Dan took up as a child, begging his Dad to let him try a Kodak Brownie, which he loved. This sparked a life-long interest with Dan using more “fancy” cameras and lenses to photograph scenery, the beauty of flowers, landscapes, mountains, oceans, and especially people—whom he loved. While traveling with Pat on photo excursions, “Dan, the Man,” the extrovert, never met a stranger, indeed. At Shorter Community A.M.E. Church, which he and Pat joined in 1980, Dan established the Shorter Photo Ministry, providing photo-taking support across many years for church events and activities. His other hobbies included creating stain-glass art, carving African-styled wood sculptures, and growing flowering and green plants, all testament to Dan’s “green thumb.” Spiritually, Dan was a humble and impassioned follower of Christ, serving faithfully in Shorter’s Men-istry Choir and in the Spiritual Projects ensemble. With Pat, he loved attending Shorter’s Adult Church School classes on Sundays. Weekdays every morning, he reminded Pat it was “time for our lesson, Sugar Pie”—and they would read together and discuss the daily morning devotion from one of his favorite publications, Our Daily Bread. Dan went to be with his Lord and Savior on Tuesday afternoon of June 17, 2025. He was preceded in death by his parents, Jesse and Laura Raybon, and his nephew, Justin Lyle Sr. He leaves to cherish his memory his wife, Patricia Raybon; two daughters, Joi Afzal and Alana Raybon; son-in-law Paul “Esa” Galloway; sister Diana Rochon (Sylvester “Mac” Rochon); sister-in-law Lauretta Lyle (Richard Lyle); nephew Kevin Rochon (Michele Rochon); niece Olivia Rochon; grand-niece Laura Thomas; grand-nephew Justin Lyle Jr., and grandchildren Nia Wattley, Anthony Galloway, Laila Galloway, Noah Galloway and Serene Galloway, and many beloved friends.

Mr. Jesse Dan Raybon III

August 2, 1940 - June 17, 2025