Raymond Junior Davis
June 11, 1931 — May 3, 2014
Raymond Junior (“Ray”) Davis, 82, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, died Saturday, May 3, 2014, at Garnett Place, Cedar Rapids. Services: 2 p.m. Thursday, May 8, 2014, at Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Center, Marion. Family will greet friends from 1 until service time at the funeral home. Burial: Mt. Clark Cemetery, Central City, with military honors.
Survivors include: Ray’s three children; his sister, Jean; Rosemond’s husband, Ronald; Paul’s wife, Betty; and numerous nieces and nephews. He has five grandchildren: Jennifer, Mark, Raymond, Alijah, and Dana; and one great granddaughter, Jadon.
Raymond and his twin sister Rosemond were born June 11, 1931, in Culver, Indiana. Their parents were Elsie Oliver Schern and Raymond Carl Davis. Raymond and “Rosie” were the fifth and sixth of eleven children. They had four older sisters: Mary, Martha, Ruth, and Alice. Younger siblings included Carl, Paul, Jean, Charlie, and Sandra. The family moved to Central City, Iowa, in 1937.
Ray started working when he was ten years old, for C.E. Butters and Son grocery store. He graduated from Central City High School in 1950, and married Atha Ratcliffe in February, 1951.
October 1951, he was drafted into the U.S. Marine Corps, and sent to Fort Pendleton in California. He served in active duty 1951-1953, then in the Reserves 1953-1959. He was honorably discharged in 1959. During this time, he was divorced from Atha and married Patricia Mae Childs, who was the mother of his three children: Karen, Ray, and Sandra. Ray moved back to Central City with his family in 1968.
Ray drove truck for a total of 43 years, in California and the Midwest. Other employers in Eastern Iowa included Grocery Savers, Central City Creamery, Delance Locker, Witwer Farm Supply, Emory, and Randolph Concrete. Until he retired, he drove grain truck for Jack’s Feed and Grain in Stanwood, Iowa, for 25 years.
In his later years, Ray joined Gospel Light Baptist Church in Marion, Iowa, and wished Pastor H. E. Morrow to serve at his funeral. He also desired to be buried with full military honors.
Donations may be sent to Animal Welfare Foundation of Iowa, PO Box 573, Marion, IA, 52302.
Survivors include: Ray’s three children; his sister, Jean; Rosemond’s husband, Ronald; Paul’s wife, Betty; and numerous nieces and nephews. He has five grandchildren: Jennifer, Mark, Raymond, Alijah, and Dana; and one great granddaughter, Jadon.
Raymond and his twin sister Rosemond were born June 11, 1931, in Culver, Indiana. Their parents were Elsie Oliver Schern and Raymond Carl Davis. Raymond and “Rosie” were the fifth and sixth of eleven children. They had four older sisters: Mary, Martha, Ruth, and Alice. Younger siblings included Carl, Paul, Jean, Charlie, and Sandra. The family moved to Central City, Iowa, in 1937.
Ray started working when he was ten years old, for C.E. Butters and Son grocery store. He graduated from Central City High School in 1950, and married Atha Ratcliffe in February, 1951.
October 1951, he was drafted into the U.S. Marine Corps, and sent to Fort Pendleton in California. He served in active duty 1951-1953, then in the Reserves 1953-1959. He was honorably discharged in 1959. During this time, he was divorced from Atha and married Patricia Mae Childs, who was the mother of his three children: Karen, Ray, and Sandra. Ray moved back to Central City with his family in 1968.
Ray drove truck for a total of 43 years, in California and the Midwest. Other employers in Eastern Iowa included Grocery Savers, Central City Creamery, Delance Locker, Witwer Farm Supply, Emory, and Randolph Concrete. Until he retired, he drove grain truck for Jack’s Feed and Grain in Stanwood, Iowa, for 25 years.
In his later years, Ray joined Gospel Light Baptist Church in Marion, Iowa, and wished Pastor H. E. Morrow to serve at his funeral. He also desired to be buried with full military honors.
Donations may be sent to Animal Welfare Foundation of Iowa, PO Box 573, Marion, IA, 52302.
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