Jon Chester Wray, Sr.

Jon Chester Wray, Sr. 73, of San Antonio, TX was called home on Monday, March 28, 2016. He was a kind and loving son, husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and friend. Jon was a war baby born in Dallas, Texas, on September 27, 1942, to mother Agnes Geneva Monroe. Geneva fell in love with and married J. T. (Jake) Wray, LCDR, USN, a Naval aviator, who later adopted Jon as his own.

Jon spent his youth living on military bases throughout the US and, like many children with military parents, he learned how to make friends quickly. He had a strong passion for music, discovering Chuck Berry and Ray Charles at an early age. A star football player in high school, Jon settled down early, marrying Nancy Brown and starting a family by the age of 20. Never knowing his own father, he became interested in genealogy, tracing family history back hundreds of years. This lifelong hobby brought him many new family members that would never have been a part of his life had he not had the passion and determination to search them out. He went on many adventures looking for pieces of the puzzle that was his ancestry. Along the way, he made many new friends, and touched the lives of many people. His passion was contagious, and he instilled the thrill of the ancestry search into many of the people he met. He was a generous man – there are very few family members who weren't helped by Jon in some way. Another of his passions in life was movies. From starting as an usher in 1961 and being made an assistant manager because the tuxedo fit, to running million dollar companies, to owning his own company, Jon took every day as an adventure. His intensity and passion for doing things the "right" way instilled a sense of responsibility and pride in what they did for a lot of people who worked under and with him. He was a member of the Optimist Club of Oceanside, CA and was named Optimist of the Year in 1969.

After Nancy passed away, Jon stayed in Florida to help raise his oldest granddaughter. It was there that Jon met Karen Mintzer, and was lucky enough to find love a second time. Jon and Karen made their home in San Antonio, TX, and he said that the years spent here were some of the happiest years of his life. The couple traveled throughout the United States, checking off Jon's bucket list items as they went. After a lengthy battle with diabetes and kidney disease, a car accident proved too much for this very strong man to overcome.

Jon was preceded in death by his mother, father, first wife Nancy, and his son Paul Foster. He is survived by his wife Karen, children Jennifer and Jon, grandchildren Jordana, Sean, and Megan, along with numerous nieces, nephews, and family found through his genealogical research.

In lieu of flowers, Jon's request was for donations to be made to "Trustees of the Hagewood Hand Cemetery", c/o Estel Hagewood, 1235 Hershel Hagewood Road, Charlotte, TN 37036; or to the Olympics/Special Olympics - US Olympic Committee, PO Box 7010, Albert Lea, MN 56007-8010 or www.TeamUSA.org/give.