Gordon Ray Rivers

Ray grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and has lived in various areas of the country such as Virginia, West Virginia and New Jersey. He settled in St. Augustine, Florida in July of 2017. Ray grew to love and enjoy St. Augustine and felt lucky to have settled in such a rich, diverse and historic area of the nation.

Ray served in the 1st Calvary Division of the US Army during the early 1980’s. Ray’s last employment was with the Super Fresh supermarket in Manahawkin, New Jersey where he was the managing butcher and shop steward under the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 52 union.

Ray loved watching horror movies, sometimes many times over. He was a Bigfoot and ancient civilization theories fan with extensive knowledge on both. He was also a die-hard Washington Redskins football team fan and an avid sports card collector. A lover of music, he was most notably a super-fan of the band Rush. He loved to fish, and especially loved the beauty of the St. Johns river.

Ray is predeceased by the mother who raised him, Virginia Watts Rivers; by his biological mother, Gladys Watts Burns; by his father Paris Robertson, his half-siblings Brenda Parsons, Thomas Burns and Mark Burns.

Ray is survived by his beloved daughter, Emily Rose Rivers; his loving partner, Iliana Abreu; his step-daughter Angelica Parisen; his half-siblings Jean Parsons, Timothy Burns and Brian Burns; multiple nieces and nephews, several life-long best friends; and his beloved canine companion, Teddy.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Ray’s memory to one of his favorite charities; the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or to the American Diabetes Association.