Raymond Pat Mena

Ray is survived by his loving family and free tech support; Charlotte Bardin (Jimmy) and their children Stephanie (Andy) and James (Mikail), Mike Cohen (Regan) and their children Cadence, Easton and Gwendolyn, Kerri Cohen-Elliott and her children Kenton and Kyleah. He is also survived by his great-grandson, Braddigan, who thoroughly enjoyed laughing at his pawpaw’s burps, farts and frequent curse words sprinkled throughout their conversations. He is preceded in death by his equally loud sister, Theresa, and beloved mother, Mary, and saintly grandmother, Pauline.

Ray was born on a cold and windy day in March of 1944 in Detroit, Michigan. Allegedly, he had to walk home from the hospital uphill in 2 feet of snow. Or so he said. He was a proud graduate of St. Thomas High School and continued to support his alma mater his entire life. His family thinks he just felt bad for the trouble he caused his teachers and decided to pay a life time of restitution to make up for it.

While raising his daughter, “Charlie,” he coached and mentored a countless number of Bellaire youth through sports programs and camping trips. Never wanting to leave the joys of childhood far behind, Ray began working for Nabisco and enjoyed a long and delicious career as “The Cookie Man.” Having access to the contents of the cookie aisle made him very popular among carb connoisseurs aka his friends and family. After unboxing his last case of Oreos, Ray decided that the time had come not for retirement but for “vacation.” He would gladly tell you how many years he had been on “vacation.”

Ray’s hobbies included hunting, telling true and maybe not so true stories of hunting, playing pool and running the pool league down at Barney’s and watching every episode of every show ever made. Ever. He also enjoyed watching women’s tennis, cheering on the Astros and browsing the real estate property listings for acreage in Wyoming. Ray’s dream was to own a piece of property in Wyoming where he could pee from his front porch and no one but the wildlife would see. Unfortunately, his sure fire plan of winning the lotto never panned out so he settled on his suburban home in Houston.

Along with his talent for making jokes and telling stories, he was also great at sneaking the occasional sip of whiskey or meal at the local Chinese buffet much to his Diabetes doctor’s dismay. He was a loud, loving and generous guy who could hang with bikers and cry at a Hallmark commercial all in the same night. He was passionate about supporting our nation’s military and even suggested making the “Old Geezer Army” for old guys who wanted to serve. He wanted to be the first to enlist!

A Celebration for a life well lived is scheduled for Sunday, November 8, 2020 at Forest Park Westheimer Cemetery at 10:00 AM. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Ray’s spectacularly entertaining life.

In lieu of flowers, please do a random act of kindness for a service member or first responder in Ray’s memory.

The family would like to give a special thanks to Lee and Jasmine from Total Loving Care that tended to him during his last stage of his life along with everyone else who dedicated time caring for him.