Final Salute

Dewey Ray
February 2, 1931 – October 9, 2022
Wiggins, Mississippi – A graveside service will be held on Friday, October 14, 2022 at 3:00 pm at the Oakdale Cemetery, with Cynthia Jenkins officiating under the direction of White Oaks Funeral Home, Oakdale, Louisiana.
Preceded in death by his wife of 66 years, Elizabeth Clark Ray, one son, Dewey D. Ray, Jr. – Danny, one daughter, Danisa Ann Ray – NiNi, his parents, Dewey W. Ray and Dellie Malone, his brother, Troy Ray and sister, Anne Ray Parks.
Those left behind to cherish his memory are five daughters, six grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and one brother: Alvin Ray. Along with many other family members and friends.
Dewey Ray retired in Gulfport, Mississippi after twenty years in the Seabees as a Senior Chief Builder. He served in the Korean War, three tours in Vietnam, traveled the world while in the service and lived from the Pacific coast of California to Nebraska, to the Atlantic coast of Rhode Island to the Gulf coast of Mississippi. All the while looking forward to going back to Louisiana where he was from. After retiring from the military, he built homes and commercial buildings along the Mississippi Gulf Coast for the next thirty years. Not making it back to Oakdale, Louisiana until now. He loved to garden, raise animals, travel, and move. He always planted a garden big enough to feed the neighborhood. One year he planted watermelons next to the road to make them easy to steal. At various times he raised cows, horses, and pigs. He liked to move a lot, twice just across the street, often to the dismay of his wife and children. Most of all he loved his family and friends. Now he is reunited with his wife and other family members in heaven.

Published by The Sun Herald on Oct. 14, 2022.