As a boy, Jaime Baray spent weekends on Santa Monica Beach with his uncle and older brother.

He wasn’t a surfer. He just splashed around in the tide.

“He’s had a love for the water all his life,” said his brother, Cesar Baray of Los Angeles.

Nearly four decades ago, Mr. Baray took a job with an architectural firm in Atlanta. When that job ended, he chose to remain in the area and was hired as an architect for John Wieland Homes.

Projects for private clients helped him discover Lake Lanier. He’d visit plots around the reservoir that clients wanted to build on. A kinship with water was rekindled.

“He became enamored with Lake Lanier,” said his brother. “He’s been living on the lake the past 15 years. He had the boat and all the toys that go along with lakeside living.”

Mr. Baray also became the lake’s guardian. He became a board member with the Lake Lanier Association, the nonprofit group that works to preserve and protect the lake. He organized fund-raisers such as fishing tournaments and the annual golf tournament. He did the work, then shunned the accolades.

“Anything we had in the way of activities, he went out, got it done and made it successful and wonderful,” said Jackie Joseph, the association’s president. “He had the association at heart.”

Jaime Baray, 65, of Cumming died Sunday from cancer. The funeral will be 2 p.m. Friday at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Cumming. McDonald and Son Funeral Home & Crematory is handling arrangements.

Other survivors include his wife, Donna Qualls Baray of Cumming; a son, Jerad Baray of Roswell; and three grandchildren.