Saturday, June 27, 2009
Day 1224 - More Mourning - for our beloved Uncle Ray
Greetings, Family and Readers,
Yesterday, we lost a very close and beloved member of the family, my uncle Ray, in an accident while he was exercising a horse.
Here is his photo from one of our past family reunions in July.
Ray was a great father, a great husband, a great uncle, and a great friend.
Ray and my Aunt Mary Ann hosted a foreign exchange student from Paraguay who is still like a member of the family.
My brother lived with them his senior year of high school and loved every minute of it.
Ray was also a veteran of the Vietnam war.
He battled leg and vein issues for decades that only recently were able to heal - a result of wounds incurred during his service.
I can hear his voice answering the phone, saying 'Top of the Mountain', in his strong Maine accent.
When he said 'Well, how are ya?' it would sound like 'Wella-WAY-yuh'.
Ray was retired, but he kept busy! He chopped wood, gardened, brewed beer, fed the birds, mowed grass, watched the wildlife, plowed the snow, hunted, and traveled and a million other things. He also raced stock cars in years past, he loved racing and had many trophies.
Ray also loved a good joke, a good laugh, good friends and good food. And don't forget frogs!
We will miss him SO much, but he left us with so many good memories.
We love you Ray!
# posted by Karen @ 6/27/2009 06:29:00 AM 
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So sad, unbelievable. I'll miss him a lot. He was an important member of the clan, it won't be the same without him. We love you, Ray. And MaryAnn and Debbie and Nancy Lynn.
# posted by 
: 7:04 AM, June 27, 2009
: 7:04 AM, June 27, 2009
My heart is broken. He is truely one of the most amazing men I have EVER met in my life. I will miss him tremendously.
# posted by : 7:59 AM, June 27, 2009
: 7:59 AM, June 27, 2009
Karen, that was a beautiful write-up for an amazing, wonderful person. We are all so shocked and saddened by his untimely death from this serious brain injury from a fall from the sulky (a small cart that is hitched up to a race horse, other wise known as Harness Racing)Thurs afternoon while exercising his favorite horse. Apparently something spooked the horse as he went around the track at the Oxford County fairgrounds. Mary Ann was near by reading in the car, and when she and others saw the horse and sulky coming around the track without Ray, they rushed over and found him lying on the ground. He was conscious at that time and saying a few words to Mary Ann, but later after they life-flighted him to the Maine Medical Ctr in Portland and did some surgery to correct a blood clot in his head, and drained fluids, then sedated, he did not regain consciousness, passing away at 10;18am Fri morning June 16. Yes, he was a giant of man in so many ways, always ready to help someone, and a devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother-in-law, uncle, and friend to so many! He will be missed for the rest of our lives. He was a surrogate father to David during the year that Dave lived with them his Sr Year in High School, and Dave, too, is feeling very sad from this news. We hope and pray that Mary Ann will will gain some comfort from her grief as time goes on. Rest in peace, Ray, with our Heavenly Father!
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# posted by : 12:16 PM, June 27, 2009
: 12:16 PM, June 27, 2009 << Home
