James Ray Scott

Ray was born on March 24, 1929 in the family home in Dallas, Texas to Irvin Cathey Scott and Myrtle Bellows Scott. He was the youngest of three brothers. He grew up in the South Oak Cliff part of Dallas and graduated from Sunset High School in 1946. He attended two years at Abilene Christian before transferring to SMU where he graduated with a BS in Civil Engineering in 1952.

This was during the Korean War so Ray spent the next two years in the Army, serving the entire time in the US as an agent in the Counter-Intelligence Corp.

After his discharge from the army he returned to Dallas where he became reacquainted with a family friend, Barbara Neal. They were married the following year on April 2, 1955. They had two children, Alan born in 1956 and Karen born in 1958.

Ray worked as a Civil Engineer until he joined Texaco in 1961 as a Marketing Engineer, retiring in late 1988. During his tenure there he and the family moved from Dallas to Fort Worth, then to Alexandria Louisiana, Houston, St. Louis Missouri, then back to Houston in 1975.

During Ray’s time in Dallas he was active in the Trinity Heights Church of Christ in South Oak Cliff, where he had been baptized years earlier in 1942. He began teaching Bible Class in 1955 just after he returned from his honeymoon and continued teaching at various Churches of Christ wherever he lived up until 2013. Even after that, he taught an occasional Bible Class at his assisted living residence up until the month before he died. He also served as a deacon in churches in Dallas and Houston, and as an elder at the church in Saint Louis.

Ray and Barbara were married 48 years until her death in November 2003. Ray later married Dollye Emmett in January 2005 and they were together 17 years until her death in 2022.

Ray was preceded in death by his parents, both spouses, his two brothers Donald Scott and Irvin C. Scott, Jr., his sister-in-law Lucille Scott, and his nephew Robert Scott.

He is survived by his son Alan Scott and wife Cindy, daughter Karen Scott, grandson Daniel Scott and wife Desi, granddaughter Alissa Riddle and husband Neal, his two precious great-granddaughters Katie and Lilly, and several nieces and nephews and cousins and their families, as well as his stepchildren and their families.

Ray will be remembered at a service on Friday June 13, 2025 at Memorial Oaks Funeral Home at 13001 Katy Fwy, Houston, TX 77079. Visitation will be at 2pm and the service will begin at 3pm. Reception following.

Burial will be at Laurel Land Cemetery, 6300 S R L Thornton Fwy, Dallas, TX 75232. Graveside service at 2 pm on Monday, June 16th, 2025.

Honorary Pallbearers will be Daniel Scott - grandson, Neal Riddle - grandson-in-law, Steve Emmett - stepson, Randy Sims - stepson-in-law, Bob Miranda - friend, David Shelley - friend

In lieu of flowers the family asks donations be made to Missions at Memorial Church of Christ, 900 Echo Ln, Houston, TX 77024, or to a Christian Mission of your choosing in Ray’s memory