Raymond Leroy Morningstar

Raymond LeRoy Morningstar, 85, was peacefully reunited with his wife on Sunday, May 29, 2022. Known to his friends and family as “Ray” or “Lee,” he was born on June 7, 1936 in Grimsby, Ontario, Canada to Raymond and Ida Marie (Amiss) Morningstar.

As a young adult, he met his future wife, Mable, through a pen pal program. Through the power of eloquently written letters and photographs, they fell in love, and after Ray moved to the United States from Canada, they married in Hollister, Missouri in 1960. Ray spent the next few years serving as a medic in the U.S. Army and lived in Hollister, Missouri and then Nebraska. He later transferred to the U.S. Army Reserves (USAR) in Seaside, California and continued to serve the country until he was honorably discharged a few years later. Ray and Mable eventually settled in Monrovia, California, where he worked at K-Lath Stucco Wire as a machine operator and retired after 40 years of dedicated company service.

Ray was an active life-long member of Calvary Grace Church and had an extraordinarily strong faith that he loved to talk about with others. He valued hard work, honesty, and was the type of person who would repair, reuse, or recycle something instead of buying a new replacement. As a true logophile and jokester, he loved etymology and Latin, deeply enjoyed religious studies, and spent his time reading his Bible and related books, writing letters to family, completing word searches, watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune each night, telling silly jokes to his granddaughters, and spending time with his family and dog.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 61 years, Mable Morningstar; daughters Ruthie Anne Morningstar and Deborah Lynn Ruvalcaba; parents, Raymond E. and Ida Marie (Amiss) Morningstar, and siblings, Allen Morningstar, David Morningstar, Orlen Morningstar, Dorothy May Mokry, Audrey Presto, and Marietta Slade.

Ray is survived by his grandchildren Phoenix (Steffans) Hardin, Amber Giltz, Angelica Ruvalcaba, Jasenia Ruvalcaba; great-grandchildren, Rosemary Buckner, Sophia Giltz, Reid Hardin, and Aleah Ruvalcaba; sister, Alma Leiding; and brother, Edward (Ruth) Morningstar.

A visitation for Ray will be held with the family on Wednesday, June 15, 2022 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM at Turner & Stevens Live Oak Memorial Park in Monrovia, California followed by a funeral service at 12:00 PM and burial at 2:00 PM.

The family requests those who wish to express sympathy to consider contributing to their favorite charity or religious organization in Ray’s name.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.liveoakmonrovia.com for the Morningstar family.