Ray Ray's Funeral Cost
Donation protected
This campaign is to raise money for the funeral cost, of Ray. The funds will go towards the funeral cost not covered by the VA and helping his family who is on a fixed income to relocate his personal items and various bills.(The VA only covers ceremony costs and none of the actual funeral costs which is over 7k.)
Ray leaves behind two children, K’dasia and Kainoa and a granddaughter, Kalia. A devoted father, you could always find Ray cheering on his multi sport athlete son at one of his many games, or being the one his daughter could turn to when she needed a shoulder to cry on. His daughter recently gave birth to a baby girl and Ray took on the role of Grandpa with ease, happy to have his family growing. A family man, Ray also leaves behind his mom, Jody, whom he loved dearly and helped to support throughout his life.
An avid Seahawks fan, Ray wore his football jersey like a uniform. When he wasn’t watching football, Ray enjoyed being outdoors; some of his passions were fishing and shooting.
My wife says this about, Ray: “I have met many of my husband’s military friends and, to be honest, sometimes it’s hard to remember who is who. But, when I met Ray, I knew I would never forget who he was. Surely, I couldn’t forget the man sitting on my couch in his brightly colored Seahawks jersey refusing to allow my Steelers blanket to touch him, but it was more than that. In the first moments of meeting him, I felt Ray was a great man with a good heart. The more I got to know him, I learned this to be true, the beauty that lived in Ray’s faithful and loving heart is one I will never forget.”
Ray served a total of four deployments including hurricane Katrina and 3 tours as a combat Medic, twice in Iraq and once in Afghanistan. Ray’s commitment to the Army went above and beyond the call of duty, known as Short Bus to his military family, Ray’s compassion and humor healed everyone around him. Both during and after serving in the Army, Ray like many combat vets suffered from PTSD and alcoholism. Ray made the decision to enter into recovery and had over three months of sobriety. Ray relied greatly on prayer and his faith in God to help him remain sober. The song, “Better than I Used to Be” by Tim McGraw became an anthem for Ray during his recovery, the words, “I ain't no angel. I still got a still few more dances with the devil. But I’m cleanin' up my act, little by little, I’m getting there, I can finally stand the man in the mirror I see. I ain’t as good as I’m gonna get, but I’m better than I used to be” helping him to stay strong in faithful towards becoming the man we all knew he was. One of the last things Ray said to me was how proud he was of his sobriety and that he knew with God and his friends, he had the strength to beat this. Ray died in his sleep, and went home to be with God, on February 3rd. We take solace in this difficult time knowing that he died peacefully as a faithful man of God.
Ray leaves behind two children, K’dasia and Kainoa and a granddaughter, Kalia. A devoted father, you could always find Ray cheering on his multi sport athlete son at one of his many games, or being the one his daughter could turn to when she needed a shoulder to cry on. His daughter recently gave birth to a baby girl and Ray took on the role of Grandpa with ease, happy to have his family growing. A family man, Ray also leaves behind his mom, Jody, whom he loved dearly and helped to support throughout his life.
An avid Seahawks fan, Ray wore his football jersey like a uniform. When he wasn’t watching football, Ray enjoyed being outdoors; some of his passions were fishing and shooting.
My wife says this about, Ray: “I have met many of my husband’s military friends and, to be honest, sometimes it’s hard to remember who is who. But, when I met Ray, I knew I would never forget who he was. Surely, I couldn’t forget the man sitting on my couch in his brightly colored Seahawks jersey refusing to allow my Steelers blanket to touch him, but it was more than that. In the first moments of meeting him, I felt Ray was a great man with a good heart. The more I got to know him, I learned this to be true, the beauty that lived in Ray’s faithful and loving heart is one I will never forget.”
Ray served a total of four deployments including hurricane Katrina and 3 tours as a combat Medic, twice in Iraq and once in Afghanistan. Ray’s commitment to the Army went above and beyond the call of duty, known as Short Bus to his military family, Ray’s compassion and humor healed everyone around him. Both during and after serving in the Army, Ray like many combat vets suffered from PTSD and alcoholism. Ray made the decision to enter into recovery and had over three months of sobriety. Ray relied greatly on prayer and his faith in God to help him remain sober. The song, “Better than I Used to Be” by Tim McGraw became an anthem for Ray during his recovery, the words, “I ain't no angel. I still got a still few more dances with the devil. But I’m cleanin' up my act, little by little, I’m getting there, I can finally stand the man in the mirror I see. I ain’t as good as I’m gonna get, but I’m better than I used to be” helping him to stay strong in faithful towards becoming the man we all knew he was. One of the last things Ray said to me was how proud he was of his sobriety and that he knew with God and his friends, he had the strength to beat this. Ray died in his sleep, and went home to be with God, on February 3rd. We take solace in this difficult time knowing that he died peacefully as a faithful man of God.
Organizer
SPC. Matthews
Organizer
West Linn, OR
