Raymond, Joseph

For some 40 years, Joe Raymond used a camera to tell the story of daily life in the South Bend area.

Though perhaps remembered by many for a run-in with South Bend police while taking photos outside the St. Joseph County Courthouse at the start of a high-profile case in 1999, Raymond, who died Tuesday, was best known for the iconic sports images he captured at the University of Notre Dame.

For John Fineran, a former assistant sports editor at The Tribune, it’s the image of Notre Dame’s Dwight Clay draining a jump shot at Purcell Pavilion — known back then as the ACC — with seconds to play to end UCLA’s record 88-game winning streak on Jan. 19, 1974.

“I think the basketball team should recognize the importance of that photo at one of its home games,” said Fineran, who at the time was a student along with Raymond at Notre Dame.

For Matt Cashore, senior photographer at the university, it’s the photo of the Boston College field goal kicker celebrating his winning effort to knock off top-ranked Notre Dame on Nov. 20, 1993, essentially costing the Fighting Irish a claim to the National Championship.

“That picture of the Boston College field goal kicker celebrating is what I still think of,” said Cashore, who was a student at the time. “It’s the perfect jubilation shot.”

Another of Raymond’s photos from that game — Notre Dame running back Lee Becton being tackled — made the cover of the next week’s cover of Sports Illustrated.

But Cashore also remembers that Raymond could be pretty intense — even scary — for a college student who was also shooting on the sidelines.

“It took a tremendous amount of energy and focus to produce outstanding sports photos,” said Cashore, pointing out that Raymond spent most of his career working without the advantages of auto focus and digital photography.

“Making even an adequate sports photo was far more difficult back then,” Cashore said. “You had to be giving it 110% at all times to work at that level.”

Besides The Tribune, Raymond’s images made the cover and inside pages of Sports Illustrated and other publications. “(Sports Illustrated) was the pinnacle for sports photography at the time,” Cashore said.

“He was just very masterful at what he did,” Fineran said. “And he was willing to pass along what he knew to others.”

Cashore and Jim Kelly, who heads the journalism program at Indiana University in Bloomington, were both beneficiaries of Raymond’s willingness to share his knowledge and his experiences with younger photographers.

“As a young photographer, the biggest impact he had on me was his willingness to take you under the arm,” said Kelly, who worked at The Tribune in the early 1980s. “I remember being shaken up after going to an injury accident.”

At a time when most photographers might have just told Kelly to suck it up, Raymond asked his young colleague how he was feeling and told him that recognizing and coping with those feelings was part of being a photojournalist.

“He was quick to listen and careful in his advice,” Kelly said. “When you needed advice or uplifting, you went to Joe.”

Kelly has routinely used the story of Raymond’s 1999 arrest in his photojournalism classes at the university. Raymond was arrested for trying to photograph the widow of slain South Bend Police Cpl. Paul Deguch as she was leaving the courthouse.

After police pushed Raymond off the sidewalk into the street, he got in his car and started to drive away. He stopped briefly and said something to the police, one of whom pulled his weapon and pointed it at the car.

Raymond was handcuffed and charged with three felonies, but he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor traffic obstruction and paid a $50 fine. The city ultimately paid Raymond $65,000 and apologized for the police restricting his ability to do his job on a public sidewalk.

But Raymond should be defined by his body of work, not just that incident, Kelly said. “He made photos that represent South Bend. He was a solid journalist who served his community.”

Virginia Black, a former Tribune colleague and now journalism adviser at the Purdue Exponent, agreed with that assessment.

“Joe understood the ‘journalist’ part of photojournalist,” she said. “He cared about the mission of journalism and realized how important images were to that mission. As a manager, Joe shared his passion, skill and a sense of importance with the photographers who worked with him,” she said.

Raymond, 67, is survived by his wife Carol and three sons, as well as three sisters and two brothers.

The family will have a celebration of Joe’s life from 2-4 p.m. Sunday at The McGann Hay University Chapel, 2313 E. Edison Rd. South Bend. Memorial donations may be directed to the American Cancer Society or the Center for Hospice Care.