Those who knew Larry Ray knew they could always find him working on something in the basement of his Decatur home. He was known to many as “Mr. Fix it,” and he was always busy with some sort of project.
“He taught all of us so many things,” said his son, Larry Ray Jr. of Decatur. “He loved learning new things and he was quite the handyman.”
Ray worked on everything from model airplanes, to broken washing machines, to injured cats. He was the person that everybody went to when they needed help, and he always put the needs of others first. Since his death, two of his daughters, Amy Ray of Dahlonega and Susan Ray of Decatur, have received letters from people they never even knew their father had helped.
“I have no idea how many people he did things for,” Susan Ray said. “He personally did what he could, when he could to help people.”
Larry Graydon Ray Sr., died Monday from complications following a stroke at Emory University Hospital. He was 79. His memorial service is being held today at 2 p.m. at Decatur First United Methodist Church. His body was cremated by A.S. Turner and Sons Funeral Home and Crematory, which was also in charge of the arrangements.
Ray majored in chemistry before graduating from Emory Medical School in 1959. He then went on to serve as a lieutenant flight surgeon for the United States Navy, before moving back to Decatur with his wife Frances in 1964. He trained in radiology at Grady Memorial Hospital, before joining a radiology practice at Georgia Baptist Hospital, from which he retired in 1997.
Before his retirement, Ray served as chairman of the radiology department, as well as becoming president of the medical staff at Georgia Baptist Hospital. He was a dedicated radiologist, but Ray’s true passion lied in his selfless generosity and unconditional care for others.
“Generosity and knowledge were power to him,” Amy Ray said. “He was the patriarch guardian angel of [the Ray] clan.”
Ray owned a vacation home in Englewood, Fla., which at one point in time, became threatened by erosion and weathering of the salty beach air. He worked hard, going through several government regulations, to get sea walls put in several houses around the area, a job that’s not easy to do, according to Ray’s longtime friend, Mike Woelffer, of Englewood.
“He protected those people’s houses,” he said. “He was just a fantastic guy. One of those guys who is extremely intelligent. I was lucky to have a friend like him.”
Ray was the glue that kept his family and community together. His house was located across from a local high school, where Ray would fly the model airplanes he built. Kids from throughout the neighborhood would come to learn how to fly the planes, said his daughter, Laura Ray of Atlanta.
“To him it was a takeoff and a landing strip,” she said of the high school. “You pretty much had to listen for airplane engines if you wanted to find him.”
In addition to his wife, son and three daughters, Ray is survived by three sisters, Janet Edwards of Chapel Hill, N.C., Nancy Ray of Englewood, Fla., and Diana Tope of LaFayette; and four grandchildren.
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