Margaret Ray, 87, ‘people person’ at Davison’s, as clerk at bank

Margaret Ray used to take a bus from Palmetto to downtown Atlanta to get to work. She worked at the old Davison’s department store during its heyday. Mrs. Ray sold ladies’ gloves and handbags, fashion statements at the time.

“That was during the time when women still wore gloves to church and for fancy occasions,” said her daughter, JoAlice Ray of Clayton. “We always had lots of nice handbags because she could get things there. My mother got a discount through her job. I did some modeling during that time and she would buy a lot of my clothing there.”

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Margaret Alice Cochran Ray, 87, sold handbags and gloves at a large department store.

Margaret Alice Cochran Ray, 87, of Palmetto, died Monday from complications of pneumonia at Mountain View Health Care Center in Clayton.

The funeral will be 1 p.m. Friday in the chapel of Parrot Funeral Home and Crematory in Fairburn, which is in charge of arrangements.

Visiting the place Mrs. Ray worked was a special treat for her daughter. She remembers what a joy it was to browse the departments of what was then a major anchor for downtown shopping. And she can still envision her mother’s work station.

“Her department was right on the main floor, close to the entrance off Peachtree Street,” her daughter said. “Davison’s was a big department store and always decorated things so beautifully. You felt like you were in a special place when you went there and I went there [with mother] many, many times.”

After working several years at Davison’s, Mrs. Ray moved over to Trust Company Bank, where she worked as a clerk in its main branch in Five Points. Both jobs suited Mrs. Ray well; she liked interacting with people, communicating.

“She was a people person and both jobs gave her an opportunity to be in the public, working with others. She seemed to thrive in that environment,” her daughter said.

Mrs. Ray enjoyed sewing, crocheting and attending Palmetto United Methodist Church, where she arranged flowers in the sanctuary. She was a graduate of Fairburn’s Campbell High School and attended West Georgia College. She and her late husband, John Harris Ray, a decorated World War II veteran, were married 49 years.

Other survivors include two sons, Ron Ray of Stockbridge and Mark Ray of Austell; two sisters, Beatrice Cochran of Palmetto and Jeanette Cochran Cook of Atlanta; and seven grandchildren.