"Among Lakeside’s Most Illustrious ..."
By Arthur Melby
January 2005 Guadalajara-Lakeside Volume 21, Number 5

     General and Mrs. Ratay were among the more prominent pioneer expatriates to settle on the North coast of Lake Chapala during the 1950s. They were generous benefactors to the community. They were the principal donors of funds for the construction of the main building of the Casa de Ancianos in Chapala in 1971. The General also organized a small group of English-speaking settlers into an association in 1955 that shortly thereafter became the Lake Chapala Society. It has continued to grow and prosper to this day. It is unfortunate that this couple are now almost forgotten. However, their legacy lives on.
     Mrs. Gertrude Risdon Lammers, born in the United States in 1910, came to live in Chapala in 1952. She was educated as a medically-trained social worker at Northwestern University as well as at schools in Europe. In addition to founding the Casa de Ancianos, she also served as president of a four member board of directors, and as administrator and guiding spirit until shortly before her death in 1984.
     The Casa de Ancianos building, surrounded by spacious grounds, is covered with lawn, flowers and trees. It welcomes guests of any nationality. It has 27 rooms and can accommodate 36 guests. It has a staff of two part-time physicians, a physical therapist, two nurses, plus nurses’ aides and domestics and a chauffeur. There is also a detached newer annex of four upscale three-room apartments. There are plans drawn up for another six-unit complex that has been partly funded and is awaiting further donations from the community. To this day, it is the only non-profit community-sponsored retirement facility catering to the citizens of Chapalandia.
     The estate, originally known as the Hacienda de Buenavista, was donated to the Catholic church in Chapala by King Carlos I of Spain and eventually turned over to the Casa de Ancianos. Mrs. Ratay demanded discipline and compliance of strict standards from her staff, but she was fair to all and paid generous wages. She was famous, respected and deeply loved by the community for the charity she bestowed on the needy, impoverished, homeless, crippled, sick and the unfortunates with birth defects.
     When local medical facilities were inadequate, she would personally take patients to Guadalajara, Mexico City or Houston to get the best possible care. She taught proper nutrition to mothers. She donated woolen yarn to ladies and taught them how to knit sweaters, caps, etc. to bestow on the needy at Christmas. Her sense of noblesse oblige was expressed in biblical prose at her funeral services at St. Andrew’s Episcopalian Church:
     I was hungered and ye gave me meat.
     I was thirsty and ye gave me drink.
     I was a stranger and ye took me in, naked and ye clothed me.
     I was sick and ye visited me.
     I was in prison and ye came unto me.
     —Matthew 25:35, 36
     There were also services held at San Francisco parish in Chapala. She died in the Mexican American Hospital in Guadalajara on January 6, 1984.
     The General was born in 1893 in Poznan, Poland. He immigrated to the United States in 1914 at the age of 21 and immediately enlisted in the regular army. There ensued a distinguished and highly-decorated 32-year career that included action in both World Wars.
     In 1917, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and served as an artillery officer in the famed Second Division. From 1924 to 1928 he served as language officer and Military Attache in the U.S. Embassy in Peking, China. He wrote two textbooks on the Chinese language for which he was awarded the Wen Tu or “Literary Tiger” medal by the Chinese government. He graduated from the Command and General Staff School in 1934. He did historical research as chief of intelligence in Berlin from 1934 to 1938 for the historical section of the Army War College.
     From 1939 to 1942, he served as Military Attache in the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Romania. He served in General Patton’s Western Task Force as Intelligence Officer in the North Africa landings in 1942. He then served successively as Commander in Morocco, North Africa, Corsica, and then saw action in southern France. France awarded him five honors: Officier de la Legion de Honeur, Commander Ouisson a la Quite, two Croix de la Guerre (in 1918 and 1945), and Citoyen d’Honneur de Marseille. The latter was the only award ever given to a foreigner in the past 1000 years. He earned these medals from the United States: three Silver Stars, one with Oak Leaf Cluster; one Bronze Star; The Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster; The Distinguished Service Medal; two Purple Hearts, one with Oak Leaf Cluster.
     He retired in 1946 and lived in the United States until settling in Chapala in 1950 where he was to remain for the next 30 years of his life. He served as co-president of the Lake Chapala Society. The Society initially had 31 members. It was non-political, secular and non-profit, dedicated to fostering cordial relationships with the Mexican community and to provide educational help to the Mexican youth. Its headquarters were in a leased building at Lopez Cotilla #282 in Chapala. There was a library for members, as well as texts in Spanish for children. The General was a member of the American Legion as well as a charter member of the Chapala Country Club and the Chapala Yacht Club.
     Gertrude met the General on the battlefields of Europe during World War II while she was serving the wounded as a Red Cross nurse. She came to Chapala to join the General in 1952. They married shortly thereafter. They built their home at Hidalgo #310. The second floor afforded a panoramic view of the lake. The rear garden is a tastefully landscaped park, extending down to the water’s edge. It has many tall palm trees and had a stable for the General’s horses and a dock for his motorboat.
     The Ratays were famous for their elegant dinner parties which were held almost weekly. Their occasional large fiestas were held in their sala de eventos which was large enough to accommodate at least 100 guests. The General has been characterized as an imposing figure with a stentorian voice, a valiant soldier, an adroit diplomat, an amusing raconteur, a scholar, historian and linguist, a connoisseur of fine art, and a philanthropist. He was fluent in Russian, Polish, Slavic, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, and English.
     He and Gertrude are buried in separate mausoleums in the Chapala Municipal Cemetery.
     (Ed. Note: Author Arthur Melby is a former president of the LCS.)