Raymond Edward Dunbar

Raymond Edward Dunbar, 85, died peacefully surrounded by his family on December 12, 2025. Ray was born on August 14th, 1940, to Hubert Cleotis (Jim) Dunbar and Gladys Elizabeth Due Dunbar. Although he was born in Centralia, Illinois, he grew up in Texas and Oklahoma and graduated from Enid High School in 1958 and considered Enid his hometown.

After high school he moved to Heber, Utah to live with his dad. He worked various jobs before joining the Army in 1962. He served at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL and Ft. Sill, OK before spending a year in South Korea and finishing his service at White Sands, NM.

Upon release from the Army, he moved to Salt Lake City, UT where he renewed his friendship with Ruth Bethers. They were married on August 20th, 1965, in Heber, UT. Their son, Kevin Dunbar, was born in 1968 and their daughter, Danielle, was born in 1973.

He began his job with Firestone Tire and they moved from Salt Lake City, UT to Butte, MT, San Francisco, CA, Honolulu, HI, Oklahoma City, OK, and finally Richardson, TX in 1981. After 22 years with Firestone, he retired in 1986. He took a job with Toyo Tire in 1987 as a regional sales manager and worked there for 26 years until he retired again in 2013. He worked part-time doing some consulting work for A-to-Z Tires in Amarillo for a few years before fully retiring.

He and Ruth loved to travel all over the world and visited all seven continents. His favorite place to visit was Hawaii and for the past 12 years he and Ruth spent several weeks a year at Hanalei Bay, Kauai. Ray was an avid OU football fan and often traveled to see them play all over the country. He loved working in his yard and sometimes mowed his lawn 2-3 times a week. He loved music also.

The love of his retirement years were his five grandchildren, Jackson, Zane, Will, Kate and Sam. He loved traveling to Atlanta to visit them and cheer them on in their activities and he loved their visits to Texas and many family vacations. His final trip was in May to his youngest grandson’s high school graduation.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Ruth Bethers Dunbar, son Kevin Dunbar of Dallas, daughter Danielle Dunbar Harkness and son-in-law Stephen Harkness of Buford, GA and grandchildren Jackson Harkness, Zane Harkness, William Harkness, Kathryn Harkness, and Samuel Harkness; his sister Deanna Dunbar Lee, Honolulu, HI, and Norma Briggs (Doug), Claremore, OK.

The funeral will be held on Thursday, December 18, 2025, at Ted Dickey West Funeral Home in Plano at 1:00 PM. A committal service for Ray will be held at Restland Cemetery following the service at 3:30 pm.