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Note: Name changed to Drake about 1945 for professional music name. Obituary
Pianist Raymond Drake, 90, dies
By Katherine Pfrommer, STAFF WRITER
ALAMEDA - Raymond Drake, a teacher and Bay Area piano player who
performed for more than 50 years, died Friday in Alameda from natural
causes. He was 90.
The Oakland native was born Raymond Osegueda on July 18, 1914, and
graduated from Castlemont High School in 1931.
After graduating, he traveled and performed on steamship lines around
the world.
He played for Charlie Chaplin and performed with Shirley Temple when
she came out of the audience to sing "The Good Ship Lollipop" while he
played solo piano, his family said.
"He was charming. He had a way about him that made people love him,"
said daughter Cynthia Sagen of Seaside. "He knew every tune in the
world - it was like having our own jukebox."
In 1942 he married fellow musician Jean Truett. The couple took the
stage name of "Drake" and formed the Ray Drake Trio. They settled in
Oakland in 1947.
Big fans of jazz, the couple attended the Monterey Jazz Festival the
first year it was held and every year after until
health reasons forced them to stop a few years back.
For 40 years, Mr. Drake and his wife taught piano and organ to hundreds
of students.
In addition to his daughter, Mr. Drake is survived by wife Jean,
brothers Eugene and Robert Osegueda, daughters Cynthia Sagen and Pamela
Drake, three grandsons and two great-grandchildren.
A viewing is scheduled for 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, with memorial service
starting at 7 at Albert Brown Mortuary, 3476 Piedmont Ave., Oakland.
Funeral service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at Saint Mary's
Cemetery, 4529 Howe St., Oakland. Donations may be made to the Monterey
Jazz Festival Education Fund, P.O. Box Jazz, Monterey, CA 93942.
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