Captain Raymond John Toner USN (1908-1986) was born in Chicago. He joined the US Navy and during World War II he served as commander of ships on escort duty in the Atlantic and later transferred to the Pacific, where he commanded ships at Tarawa, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, the Phillipines and other areas. During a typhoon in 1944 his ship rescued survivors from three destroyers. While on peacetime duty, Toner, who passed a special examination to qualify for a Tilden Tech diploma, earned bachelor and masters degrees from Northwestern University, where he later taught. He also served in the Korean War retiring in 1965 after 39 years in the Navy.
Toner then spent 10 years as Asst. Director of Central Latin American Studies at the University of Florida.