Raymond Meza Chavez

Ray was a wonderful father, a devoted husband, a loving grandfather and true friend, he will be greatly missed.

He was born on March 10th, 1934 in Higueras de Achota, a small village outside of Cosalá, Sinaloa, Mexico. His humble beginnings forced him to immigrate to California in 1954 in search of a better life.

In 1960 he joined the Brasero program where he worked as a farmworker all over the Central & Salinas Valley. In 1963 he transitioned to a vegetable processing plant, in King City, working his way up from washing floors, to forklift operator, to caterpillar driver, and eventually promoted to crew leader in 1971 before retiring in 1999.

He met the love of his life, Carmen on July 16th, 1965 and married two years later on December 25th, 1967. They had eight children together, living in King City, California until December, 2002 when they moved to La Quinta, California.

Ray instilled his values of honor, respect, and community onto his children emphasizing the importance of hard work, love for one another and most importantly, humility.

In 1980 he became a proud U.S. Citizen. He lived life to the fullest and seized every moment of it. His family was his life and always greeted everyone with smiles and hugs. He enjoyed dancing cumbia, playing the guitar, singing, playing his favorite card game Conquian, and grilling his famous carne asada. Most of all he loved to socialize at the local casino where he enjoyed bingo and taking his chances at the slots.

Ray is survived by his loving wife, Carmen; his sons Ray (Griselda) Chavez, Arnold (Sandy) Chavez, Gerardo (Jennifer) Chavez, Ariel (Jenny) Chavez, Anthony (Felicia) Chavez and Carlos Chavez; his daughters Dianna (Greg) Castaneda, Jacqueline (Javier) Zamora and Nellie (Franco) Castro. In addition, he leaves behind 18 grandchildren, 3 great grandchildren with a fourth arriving in 2021, and many nieces and nephews.

He is preceded in death by his parents Merceditos Chavez and Rosa Meza; brother Francisco; sisters Valentina, Mercedes, Loreto, Juana, Herlinda, Lupe and Marina.

A celebration of life will be held on December 2nd, 2020 at 9am at the Forest Lawn Serenity Garden, 69855 E. Ramon Road, Cathedral City, CA 92234. He will be laid to rest following the services at 12noon at the Coachella Cemetery, 82925 Avenue 52, Coachella, CA 92236.

*Due to COVID restrictions a wake will not be held at this time.