Stuart Willis Ray

Stuart Ray passed away peacefully on Tuesday, May 20th, 2025, after declining for the last 6 months. He had turned 83 last April 14th, a day my daughter, Elise, and I were thankfully able to celebrate with him.

Growing up, both Stuart & his brother Howard enjoyed watching Track & Field Meets, either in person or on television. Both loved it so much that they constructed, with their mother’s permission, events in the backyard. Howard enjoyed the high jump that they made with poles, a bamboo cross stick and an old bed mattress. Bricks were used to secure the poles. They had a shot put pit where Stuart practiced throwing the shot put. That pit was also used for the “hop, skip, jump”, and the discus throw, made from two metal pie pans taped together. The track events included starting in the patio, running around the house to the sidewalk, to the corner and back. The kids in the neighborhood joined these “events”.

Stuart had a Sunday paper route, delivering the LA Times and the LA Examiner. He would pull the square wooden wagon throughout the neighborhood, delivering papers and collecting the subscription costs once a month. Stuart’s love of the LA Times started with that paper route. Reading the Times was one of his most favorite times of the day. Once he retired, the morning was spent reading & checking off the articles that he had read.

He worked for 37 years in the Mechanical Department for the County of Los Angeles. Stuart had a gift for memorized numbers. Before computers, he would memorize the six-digit part numbers. Then when a workman would come in and ask for certain parts, Stuart could quickly find those items as he used his number memory to locate them in numerical order.

Stuart was also proud of his knowledge of letting anyone who named a date & year, to quickly let them know what day of the week that was. He had memorized the pattern of months & years including leap years to quickly say the day of the week.

Watching & following the various sports events continued throughout his life. He especially enjoyed UCLA football.

Horse racing. He liked to follow the Racing Form, reading diligently about the strengths & weaknesses of different horses. He would go to Santa Anita Park, which is in Arcadia, just to the east of Glendale. He made sure that he would purchase the Santa Anita Park calendar each year, hopefully by going to the races the day after Christmas when they would hand out the calendars for free. He would bet on his favorite horses, but only in small amounts.

As an adult, Stuart was able to pursue his athletic interests by entering competitive race-walking. He mastered the race-walking technique and won numerous medals which he loved to display and show to friends and family. He was very proud of those medals and enjoyed displaying them in his home.

Stuart was loved by his sister, Diana Ray-Goodman, nieces Elise & Chelain Goodman, and nephew David Goodman. Stuart was loved by his brother, Howard Ray, who passed away in 2021, brother Howard’s wife, Mary Jane Ray, nieces Chelsea Ray, Heather Kelley, and nephew Michael Ray, who left us way too soon. And his grand nieces, Alina & Chloe Schueman & Madeline & Katie Kelley.