Born and raised in Cedarville, Washington, just over the hill from the Brooklyn Tavern, Ray left home at age 16 and became a Merchant Seaman; he traveled to exotic places such as South Africa, Singapore, Sardinia, Iraq, Suez Canal, Panama Canal, Japan, Philippines, and many others.
He married, and with his wife Maxine, raised two children, Steffanie and Bruce. He joined the Air Force at age 22 and was a cryptographer and recruiter; he saw tours of duty and lived in various locales including Taiwan, Vietnam and Alaska. He retired from the AF at age 43, and began a second career as an automobile salesman, soon he became part owner of the "Coachman" in Olympia, along with his business partner, Don Preston. Their dealership was the first one to occupy the Olympia Auto Mall. They also owned a body shop, "PDE".
In 1984, Ray became interested in the sport of ProRally, a venue of racing in which street legal cars (modified for safety and endurance) race on logging roads in a highly organized competition against the clock. Ray became a co-driver for Grant Whiting, together they became a highly successful rally racing team, they took many Divisional wins and earned the respect of National and World Rally competitors. He also began organizing an annual National rally which ran for many years and was known as the "Coachman Stages". One of Ray’s great pleasures from that era was when he became good friends with Rod Millen, a ProRally Champion from New Zealand. Ray went to Southeast Asia to help "crew" for Rod’s team several times. He also became friends with another rallyist, Ross Dunkerton a several-time Australian National Champ[ion. Ross is also a nationally known Aussie TV personality!
Ray still keeps active in the rally venue by organizing the Doo Wop Rally Series, which runs the first weekend in March every year. 2005 will be the 16th year of the event. The rally incorporates " Brooklyn Road" as a stage, which has become the most favorite and popular stage in the Unites States. The record time over 7 miles of gravel is just under six and one half minutes!
A few years after his wife died, Ray met and married Janice Damitio, along with her three young sons. Having been married 13 years, they live along the Wynooche River.
Ray and his partner sold the "Coachman" dealership and body shop several years ago and now own the "Duane Dewees Chrysler Dodge" dealership in Aberdeen, WA.
Ray often gets the urge to travel, so he hops on an Air Force C-17 (a cargo plane designed to fly troops and supplies to various locations around the globe) and gets a free flight to "who knows where". His recent trips include Ireland, the Philippines, France, Italy, Sylvania and Croatia. He carries only a small backpack and sometimes is gone several weeks. While he is gone, you can track his whereabouts on the "whiteboard" in the tavern. While he waits for "space availability" on a flight, he sometimes has to hole up for a couple of days, so he carries a good book, then ferrets out a bottle of wine to help pass the hours until he is granted an empty seat.
Ray and Janice bought the Brooklyn Tavern in 1990. You can usually find Ray bartending the tavern Thursday through Sunday, he enjoys shelling out the local history to interested patrons. He has many stories to tell about the area and inhabitants of Oakville, Cedarville, North River, and Brooklyn, both past and present!