Veteran Jerry Ray
Celebration of life: 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, Buffalo Free Will Baptist Church, 653 E. Main, Buffalo, under the direction of Greenlawn North Funeral Home, Springfield. Visitation: 1 to 2 p.m. prior to services at the church.
Gerald Truman Ray, 92, was born Oct. 23, 1923, in Iowa, the son of Eldon and Bernice Ray. He died Feb. 7, 2016, in Buffalo.
He lived in Humansville until he joined the U.S. Navy during World War II. He served on the USS San Francisco. After the war, he lived in Colorado, California and Missouri and worked in the grocery business until he retired in 1986 in Springfield. He continued working part time into his 80s for Jordan Cash Register, a family-owned business.
When he and Peggy married in 2005, he moved to Buffalo.
He was a fun-loving person, well-loved and admired, who never met a stranger and was always willing to lend a helping hand to family and friends. He was a good Christian and a member of the Free Will Baptist Church in Buffalo.
An avid golfer in later years, he spent many memorable moments with golfing buddies at Eagle Crest Golf Course in Republic and in the senior league at Dream Valley Golf Course in Buffalo. He was a league bowler for many years and took up dancing at 82 when he and Peggy met.
Jerry was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers: Bill and Robert; his first wife. Mildred; and brother-in-law, Ray Burrell.
Survivors include his wife, Peggy; his daughter, Bonnie and husband, John Wilcox; two sisters: Lucy and husband, Jerald Dixon and LaVerne Burrell; one brother, Phillip; one sister-in-law, Marjorie Ray; two granddaughters: Wendy and husband, Nate Miller, and Holly Wilcox; four great-grandchildren: Johnny, Emery and Tommy Miller, and Chloe Smith; Peggy’s extended family; and a host of nieces and nephews.
