Ray was born on May 4, 1924 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

He graduated from Sheridan High School in Indiana in 1942 and from the University of Missouri in 1947.

He married Elizabeth Jean Kitterman in Noblesville, Indiana in January 1947.  They have one son.

From 1947 to 1951, he taught high school in Athens, Illinois.

He began his career with Firestone Industrial Products in 1951 and spent 32 years in various management positions.   From 1971-73, he was the managing director of Firestone General Products in Sydney, Australia.  He also spent time in Newark, New Jersey; Detroit, Michigan; and East Providence, Rhode Island.

After retirement from Firestone, Ray and Betty moved to Pinehurst, North Carolina.  Ray spent three years as adjunct marketing professor at Golden Gate University, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. From 1984 to 2001, he was president of ORT Associates, a marketing and sales consulting company.

Ray served on the Noblesville, Indiana Chamber of Commerce board, was precinct committeeman in Noblesville and spent two terms on the City Council.

He served on the local Girl Scout Council in Pinehurst, on the Pinehurst Civic Council; and the Pinehurst Merchants Guild.

He joined the Rotary Club of Pinehurst in October 1983 and served as president in 1987-88.  He served as district governor in 1992-93.

At the district level, Ray served four years on the district finance committee.  He attended ten international conventions. He was a member of the RI Fellowships Committee and served as chairman in 2000.

Ray was a Life Member of International Fellowship Golfing Rotarians and Charter/Life Member or United States Golfing Fellowship where he served as president from 1999-2001.  He served as chairman of the USGFR Pinehurst Tournament in 1993 and as chairman of IGFR Pinehurst Tournament in 1998 and 2011.

He was a polio survivor and founder of the Rotary International Polio Survivors & Friends Action Group.  In 2003, he founded the Sandhills Post-Polio Group.

Ray received the Rotary International Service Above Self Award in 1997.

Ray died at Moore Regional Hospital on February 16, 2016.

-PRID Ken Morgan (2017)