Rafael Jose "Ray" Nieves, 81, of Prince Frederick, passed away April 6, 2024, at home with his family by his side. Born on December 5, 1942, in Washington, D.C., he was the son of Rafael A. Nieves and Mirta Diaz.

Ray moved to Wheaton in 1955 and resided there until he joined the United States Navy in 1960. He served as a cryptographer aboard the USS Coral Sea, a Midway class aircraft carrier, until 1964 when he received his honorable discharge.

He began his career as a Firefighter at Hillandale Volunteer Fire Department, Silver Spring, MD, and soon gained membership with the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department. In 1966 he transferred into a position within the Prince George's County Fire Department, where he specialized within the Fire Prevention division and as a bomb technician with Ward Caddington and became First Sergeant in 1972. He worked through the ranks of Fire Prevention and Suppression until 1985 when he retired as Operations Chief, second-in-command in Prince George's County.

Ray became the Vice President of the Southern Maryland Hospital, and after five years returned to fire service as Chief Fire Marshal of Loudoun County, VA, and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, covering both Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport. By 1995 he had gained the position of Chief Fire Marshal in Alexandria, VA. In 1998 Ray suffered a major heart attack and was forced to retire from the fire service. Upon recovery, he founded the Rafael Nieves Heart Foundation for Children at the University of Maryland Hospital, where he had received bypass surgery.

Ray was very active in sports; he was a black belt in karate, and enjoyed competing in marathons, sailing, tennis, long-distance bicycling, and motorcycling. He held a great passion for the Fire Departments of Prince George's County, and more recently Prince Frederick, MD, and also served as the president of the Nam Knights of America, a Veterans and Law Enforcement Motorcycle club in the Maryland and Virginia regions.

In 2018, Ray was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and fought a valiant battle for the past six years. He loved his family, church family, fire department family, and had an incredible zest for life. He will be missed by all.

Ray is survived by his wife of 30 years, Carolyn Chasse Nieves; daughters Michelle Clement of Avenue, MD, and Karen Nieves of North Beach, MD; granddaughters Courtney Nieves of North Beach, MD, and Savannah Schriever of Avenue, MD; sister Millie Ramey of Burke, VA, and brother James Nieves of Ocean City, MD.

A visitation will be held on the 20th of April starting at 11:00 A.M., followed by the service at 12:00 P.M. at St. Nicholas Lutheran Church in Huntingtown. The burial will take place at Chesapeake Highlands Memorial Gardens in Port Republic. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ray's name to St. Nicholas Lutheran Church.