Raymond Washburn, a decades long Oklahoma City resident but raised and attended school in Bristow, is known to many friends and family as a hero. Washburn owned and operated, through the State of Oklahoma's Blind Vending Stand program, a snack bar on the fourth floor of the Alfred P. Murrah building and is himself, a survivor of the Oklahoma City Bombing, April 19, 1995. After the bomb went off, despite being blind from birth, Washburn managed to free himself from the rubble and rescue four customers and one employee by leading them out of the building using his sense of direction. He told them to put their arms on the person in front of them and he led them through the smoke and ash, telling them to march, they had to get out of there.
Washburn was a proud member of the Yuchi Tribe of Native Americans in Oklahoma. Family and friends gathered together Friday, Jan. 21, to remember the life and accomplisments of Washburn. He was laid to rest at the Tiger Cemetery, in Bristow, one of the only three remaining Yuchi Tribe cemeteries in existence. The 100 plus year old cemetery is owned by the Washburn family and was created by Raymond’s grandmother.