A.C. RAY

BENTON -- A.C. Ray, 80, of Benton died Saturday, May 11, 1996, at Crowley Ridge Health Care Center in Dexter.

He was born Nov. 17, 1915, near Sikeston, to Jasper Pinklin and Daila Harwood Ray. On Sept. 3, 1939, in New Madrid, he married Marie Buttery.

Ray was a retired farmer.

Survivors include his wife; five sons, Bruce and Danny Ray, both of Benton, Herman Ray of Hollister, Calif., Dale Ray of New Madrid and Lynn Ray of Sikeston; two daughters, Frances Donze of Poplar Bluff and Joyce Merick of Bloomfield; a brother, Walter Ray of St. Louis; four sisters, Josie Holland of Peoria, Ill., Emma Cooper of Kelso, and Maxine Owens and Bonnie Grounds, both of Alton, Ill.; 24 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a daughter and two brothers.

Friends may call from 5-8 p.m. today at the Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston.

The funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral chapel, with the Rev. Dale Huff officiating. Burial will follow in the Dogwood Cemetery in Dogwood.