Ray Massey

Ray Massey, 91, born on January 30th, 1925, in Detroit, Michigan, passed away peacefully September 17, 2016, just after 2:00pm PST. He resided in San Dimas, California at the time of his passing.

Ray is survived by his wife of 52 years Anabel, his cousin and lifelong friend Mario, his three boys Mark Rick And Brian, 2 grandchildren Nicole and Lisa, 2 great grandchildren (soon to be 3) Ethan and Mila.

Ray enjoyed the world around him: the people, the places and the scenery. If there was one song that summed up Ray's view of life it was What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. Ray often referred to that song to express how he felt about life around him.

Ray will always be remembered for his devotion to his family and friends, his humor, strong work ethic, love of people and places, and commitment to his country.

Born into humble beginnings he persevered through personal adversity to serve his country, build a family all while bringing love, fun and laughter to those whose lives he touched.


Ray's Story

Ray was born in Detroit, Michigan to parents who came to America from Italy. Ray's Dad worked at Ford Motor company and his mother raised he and his brother Armand and his sisters Olga and Mary. Ray was the youngest of four children. His cousin Mario DiVito also lived in Michigan.

Ray's family lived in a modest suburban neighborhood at 5246 St. Clair Street, Detroit MI. Ray attended Junior High at Hutchinson School, graduating in 1939, then went onto Southeastern High School in Detroit, Michigan where he graduated Wednesday, June 23rd, 1943.

Personal tragedy struck Ray at the age of 16, when his father passed away suddenly. While in High School, Ray took various jobs to help his family. He worked as a paper delivery boy, as a golf caddy, and shoveled snow from driveways to help his family. He lived a mostly normal boyhood playing in summers and going to school the rest of the year.

Motivated to help his country, Ray joined the military in 1943 and became part of the 5th Division Air Corp in the Army. He flew in B24 bombers as a belly gunner.

Ray left the military in 1948, and followed his mother and the rest of the family to the Los Angeles area. Ray took a job with Southern California Edison in 1948 and worked there for 37 years. Ray started with Edison as a clerk in the Treasury Department then a few years later joined the Operational Audits department where he worked as an Auditor and Manager for the remainder of his career.

After leaving the military Ray started to build his family. He had two children in the early 50's, Mark and Rick, with his first wife Barbara. He then had a third boy Brian in the late 60s to his second wife of 52 years, Anabel. Ray and Anabel met at the First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood and were married at Lake Congregational Church in Pasadena on September 12th, 1964.

Shortly after joining Edison, Ray joined the local American Legion club in 1955. In 1957, Ray was elected to Commander Of Legion Post #431. Ray held the post for a year hosting meetings and giving speeches at the meetings. At reelection time, Ray was asked to run again but he declined as he didn't enjoy the politics of the position. He continued on in the American Legion for many years as a supporting member.

In 1968, Ray and Anabel moved from the Los Angeles/Pasadena area to the San Dimas area, where he and his wife Anabel would raise their family and live the rest of their lives.

Religion was important to Ray. Ray lived his life in the context of his Protestant religious beliefs. He met his wife of 52 years at church, they attended Church during working years and into retirement. Many of Rays friends were from the local Churches he attended with his family. Ray enjoyed the music of the Church with songs like Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art.

Ray loved to travel and took opportunities to travel whenever he could. During the 50s Ray built a cabin at the Salton Sea and would take family and friends out there to enjoy water skiing, fishing and riding motor bikes. He eventually sold the cabin in the early 80s and it remains occupied today. In the 70s Ray traveled across the country with his family. He eventually managed to visit all 50 states, most provinces in Canada and some areas in Mexico during this time.

No song summed up Ray's feelings more towards traveling the open road then Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again." This song was one of Ray's favorites.

Ray retired Aug 1st 1983 at the age of 58. During retirement, Ray pursued hobbies like golf and model airplanes, woodworking, and of course travel. During the next 20 years he would travel with his wife Anabel to Europe, visit his family in Italy, and continue traveling extensively around the US, Canada, and Mexico. Back home, Ray helped Anabel run her craft business by cutting the patterns from wood she would paint and sell at local art festivals.

Though it took a couple tries, he drove the 1500 mile Alcan highway from Canada to Alaska in 1980 in a mini motor home. He drove to Alaska a second time with a van and trailer this time going to Alaska by way of the unpaved Cassiar Highway. Ray was a diligent planner and that's what it took to make these types of journeys successfully.

Ray loved to golf and spent many a day on the course with his friends from work and church. Over his career he made 5 hole in ones.

Ray loved air planes. In his retirement years during the 1990s he collected and flew remote controlled gliders. He liked to fly them in large fields well away from populated areas ("just in case") but enjoyed the good exercise from collecting the planes after landing. He loved to tell stories about his years in the military flying in B24s and meeting other WWII vets.

Ray enjoyed listening to many types of music such as Country, Italian Folk, Ballroom dance, and Spiritual. Ray enjoyed ballroom dancing and the music associated with that style of dance like Lawrence Whelk and other big band musicians.

But above all else, no matter while he was working at Edison or in retirement, Ray's family played the central role in his life. He loved every member of his family and dedicated himself to providing for them and raising them as best he knew. He loved his wife, his boys, Mark and Rick, Brian, and his granddaughters, Nicole and Lisa. He threw every ounce of energy he had into making sure they were safe and secure, provided for, and given opportunities for growth, fun and innocence that every child deserves; the things he didn't necessarily have growing up after his father passed.

All of those around him: his wife, his children and grand children, have benefited immensely from his love and support. We are the people we are today because of him and we are eternally grateful to be his.


The Final Stretch

Around the age of 75 health problems started limiting how much Ray could travel. By age 83, he could no longer travel long distances in an automobile. As the years continued to march along, Ray's Parkinson's continued to progress.

And almost exactly 7 years after his last road trip, in a GM Saturn car to Washington State in 2009, he took his last breath on Saturday, September 17th, 2016 a little after 2:00 PM PST. With his loving wife by his side and her arm around him, with his caregiver seated next to him, sitting in his usually stoic and upright position on the family room couch, with his eyes closed, he just simply stopped breathing and passed peacefully. There was no outward physical indication he had passed other than his breathing. He always was a little afraid of death and the possible pain associated with it but in the end there couldn't have been a more graceful and gentler way for God to call him home. For those of us still here on Earth who loved him we will be forever grateful for this.

Even towards the end, in the last 6 months of his life, Ray never lost his sense of humor. Despite his declining health, Ray's humorous quips were a continual source of entertainment for those around him -- his wife, caregivers and nurses. Whether asking "where are the girls" (the girls referring to his caregivers), or asking for German chocolate cake as a "fuzzy donut", or asking his caregivers to be gentle with him because he was "94 years old after all (even though he was 91)", his sense of humor never left him.

Perhaps his favorite phrase during the final months of life, more than any other, was "Let's go". Or "Let's go home." He would say these phrases often awake and asleep. There was always some debate as to what he meant but we suspect that he just liked those phrases for the feelings they evoked deep down and, even in life, just loved the way they rolled off his tongue. Those simple words embodied so much of what Ray Massey was about.

And now at age 91 and 3/4 years, after a life of family, country, love and fun Ray is laid to rest in a beautiful area befitting of a beautiful man. High atop a hill, overlooking the valley he called home, his final resting place is as beautiful and as inspiring as the man himself. This spot, this very spot -- underneath a beautiful magnolia tree, with a stunning vista, overlooking the area where he lived more than half his life -- will continue to project his spirit and his life into eternity. It provides a place for people who knew and loved Ray to come spend time with him, his spirit and soul, and just soak in everything he loved about this area. The spirit of Ray Massey will forever live in the hearts and minds of you here and the many others whose lives he touched with his charm, humor and compassion.

Ray fought until the end. His lessons learned from the military were never lost. "Never give up." And he never did. And surely, if he could leave each of us with a parting thought, a piece of sage advice hard won over a 91 year lifespan, it would be to look both ways before crossing, love your family, plan for the unexpected, work hard, protect your health, cherish your friends, and have fun. Ray always lead by example and these are the lessons he passes on to each of us, his final gift.

Feel free to visit Ray any time, high atop the hillside above the valley he called home for many decades, and soak in the beauty of the area he loved so much.