Ray, 73, died May 2, 1993, in Spokane, Washington. He was born July 6, 1919, in Centerville, South Dakota. Ray was in the 82nd Airborne in WWII and jumped the 1945 season at Missoula. He got seven practice and five fire jumps. He enlisted in the Army in 1939 and was discharged in June 1945 just before smokejumper training. Ray worked at Ryerson Steel in Spokane retiring in 1980.