Ray Ritchie

Ray was born in Smithville, Texas, son of Otis and Vivian Ritchie, the youngest of four sons. His father’s work with the railroad, led to Ray’s lifelong fascination with trains. His family moved to Temple, Texas in his teens where he graduated from High School. He married his high school sweetheart, Joyce Calhoun, on January 6, 1950.

Ray joined the Air Force in 1951 where he trained in computer programming. In his career, he worked with computers and sales, retiring to become a school bus driver for special needs children.

Ray and Joyce had three children (Marsha Harris, Michael Ritchie, and Mark Ritchie), 5 grandchildren (Andrea Smith, Andrew Harris, Amanda Garcia, Elizabeth Warren, and Corinne Ritchie), and 13 great grandchildren (Katherine Ritchie, Joseph Church, Ella Church, Dillon Smith, Dalton Smith, Hunter Garcia, Bennett Garcia, Ava Warren, Lounora Harris, Heston Smith, Peyton Warren, Henry Harris, and soon to be born, Baby Harris).

In his work, family, and community, Ray was always welcoming, eager to help, and able to make others feel valued. A favorite scripture of Ray’s is ‘For by Grace you are saved through Faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.’ Ephesians 2:8