RAYMOND C. SIMON is Chairman of the Board, The Simon Companies, and has served as director for several local businesses and extensively in elected and appointed government service. Ray's exploits include winning a singing contest at the age of five, which led to co-starring with Ethel Barrymore and Edgar Buchanan in his early adolescence. He came face to face with Pretty Boy Floyd. He beat two near-drowning incidents before he was 15, survived a burning Superbomber serving in the Korean War, fortuitously missed boarding an airplane that crashed minutes after takeoff killing all on board, and much more. He has served on the Stanislaus County (CA) Board of Supervisors and runs numerous companies. Now in his nineties, Ray believes he has survived because of the protection and guidance of the angels that have accompanied him all his life.