The youngest in a Finnish family of seven children and the last survivor, Ray was born and raised on a dairy farm in Naselle, Washington. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1944 and graduated from WSU in 1949 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. For most of his career, he worked for the Crown Zellerbach paper company, retiring as their Chief Structural and Civil Engineer.
Ray was married to June Rustad Wiitala from 1951 until she passed away in 2003. They lived in Seattle and had three daughters Kristal Wiitala of Lacey, Sonja Springer (Shawn) of Edmonds, and Jennifer Wiitala Charles (Kevin) of Hauser Lake ID. Their beloved son Erik Wiitala (Tami) passed away exactly five months before his father. Ray also leaves behind his wife Dorothy, ten grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his grandson Tyler Young.
Ray was an avid and excellent golfer until he could no longer play due to his advancing Alzheimer's disease. He vacationed for several weeks in Kauai for many years and enjoyed travelling to Finland and other exciting destinations. Before moving to a memory care facility, he spent many happy hours watching the ferries and Alki beach action with his wife Dorothy from his condo in West Seattle. Ray was a kind, generous and supportive man, well loved and greatly missed by his bereft family. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, at Acacia Memorial Park.
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