Ray M Freeman Jr.

Ray M. Freeman Jr. was born July 29, 1938 in Grand Junction, Colorado to his parents, Ray Sr. and Thadyne Freeman. He had one sister, Judy of Barstow, CA and one brother, Rich of Westminster, CO. He moved as a baby to Craig, CO and attended school and graduated from Moffat County High School in 1956. He then went to CSU for one year. He returned to Craig and worked for Stanton Trucking. Ray and LaVonne met and married in Craig, December 21, 1958. They were married for 53 years until LaVonne passed away from cancer in 2011. They were blessed with 3 wonderful children, Chris, Angie, and Carol. They also had 9 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.

Ray worked as a diesel mechanic with McCoy Company (now Wagner Equipment) for 25 years and also Western Implement for several years until retiring.

Over the years, they moved up and down the Western Slope. In the 60’s they moved to Grand Junction, in the 70’s they moved to Bayfield/Durango, in the 80’s they moved to Montrose, and in the 90’s they moved back to Grand Junction. After LaVonne’s death, Ray moved into Grand Villa and Mesa View (Solstice). Then he moved to Denver for the past 3 years to be near his daughter, Carol and face his health challenges.

Ray loved God, his family, his church family, tinkering in his shop making metal animals and anything else he could think of, as well as taking pictures with various cameras, including his I-pad. While at Northeast Christian Church for 25 years, he worked at World Missions Crusade, Bethlehem Revisited, and Silver Saints Luncheons. Ray and LaVonne were also involved with an RV ministry group, Servants of Our Saviour (S.O.S). They traveled around in their RV and worked on various churches and church camps. Ray had several hobbies but he made and welded metal animals, metal plant holders, and an entire trailer. He would also build wishing wells and take suggestions for other things to make. He loved working with his hands and planning for the next project. We all had a great example for building things for others.

A graveside service will be held at the Orchard Mesa Cemetery, October 9, 2021 at 10:00AM.