J D Rayburn II

Dr. JD “Jay” Rayburn, 73, passed away on Monday, July 12, 2021 surrounded by his wife and children. It is unfair to say Rayburn lost his battle with cancer, as he had beaten it once before. Loved ones know if cancer had played fairly this time around he would have beaten it again.

Rayburn graduated from Providence High School and Murray State University. After serving in the United States Army, Rayburn completed his Masters degree at Murray State, followed by his PhD at Florida State University. After teaching at the University of Kentucky and the University of Miami, Rayburn would return to FSU where he would teach tens of thousands of students in the Department of Communication from 1985 until his retirement in 2020. Outside of the classroom, Rayburn joined FPRA in 1986 serving as State President in 1994. Among his many contributions to the association was the establishment of FPRA online in the early days of the world wide web. He served as founding chairman of the Counselors Network and from 2002 - 2014 he represented FPRA on the Universal Accreditation Board.

Rayburn is preceded in death by his mother, Inez Johnson Rayburn, and father, JD Rayburn; his step-mother, Mary Lou Rayburn; and his father-in-law, Robert Humphreys, and mother-in-law, Jane Humphreys. He is survived by his wife, Rebecca Humphreys Rayburn; daughter, Jane Rayburn, and son-in-law, David Fifer; daughter, Katie Hayden, son-in-law, Dylan Hayden; his step-sister, Claire Bell (husband, Santiago Nunez) and step-brother, George Bell (son, Witt Bell). Rayburn’s family is joined in mourning by his hundreds of friends, colleagues, and former students.

In lieu of condolences, gifts in honor of Rayburn can be made to the Jay Rayburn FPRA Scholarship https://www.fpra.org/fpref-education-foundation/ or the Florida State University Veterans Alliance. The Florida State School of Communication at the College of Communications and Information is also creating the Dr. Jay D. Rayburn Endowed Professorship to which donations can be made.

A memorial service will take place at 2pm Saturday July 17th at the Champions Club at Doak Campbell Stadium. To leave an online condolence for the family, please visit our website at www.culleysmeadowwood.com