Kenneth Dean Ray

Kenneth Dean Ray, 64, of rural Winfield, peacefully passed away on May 3, 2022 at his home.

Services will be Friday, May 6, at 10 am, at Shelley Family Funeral Home of Winfield. Interment will follow at Mt. Vernon Cemetery. Visitation will be Thursday, May 5 from 4 pm to 8 pm with family present from 4 pm to 6 pm. Memorials can be made to First Presbyterian Church, Winfield or Redeemer Lutheran Church, Arkansas City in the care of the funeral home.

Kenneth was born April 17, 1958 in Winfield to parents Frank and Hilda Ray. He grew up on the farm and attended various special education schools in the area. After intensive speech therapy at The Institute of Logopedics in Wichita, he learned to talk when he was four. After that, he was never at a loss for words, and we love to remember the many clever quips he spoke at the perfect times. Kenneth was a farm boy through and through. Nothing ever happened or was delivered to the farm that he did not keep track of; he was the chief supervisor. Our dad would comment that the rest of us would lose things but Kenneth never did.

In his earlier years he put miles on his bicycle and he loved mowing the yard with his push mower. Some of his favorite things were sitting on the bench outdoors with his cat on his lap, piecing together 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzles, new boxes of crayons and coloring books, attending the fair and the steam engine show, decorating for Christmas, and getting the mail every day. Pecan harvest from the trees that were planted in the garden when he was small was the highlight of his year. He picked each nut up one-by-one and then cracked them one-by-one, which was an example of his perseverance.

Kenneth was a lifelong member of First Presbyterian Church and knew Jesus as his friend and Savior. In his later years, he attended Redeemer Lutheran Church in Arkansas City with his brother, Martin. He loved attending church and visiting with everyone.

Kenneth was preceded in death by his parents and an infant nephew, Jamie Ray. He is survived by his brothers David (Sally), Winfield; Phil (Lyn), Flower Mound, TX; Martin (Judy), Winfield; and sister Carolie Ediger (Ron), Hutchinson, 21 nephews and nieces, and 19 great-nephews and nieces, and many cousins.

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