Ray Helene Asnes

Formerly of Newton, died August 4, of complications from a fall. She was an intrepid traveler, an antiques maven, and an aficionado of great food, beautiful clothes and the good things in life. She was 85 years old and lived in Boca Raton, FL. As a travel agent, she visited countries too numerous to list. She went to China before Nixon and Iran before the axis-of-evil era, ate injera wat in Ethiopia when Haile Selassie was in power, and witnessed Israel's 6-day war while in Jerusalem. It was while they travelled with her on a familiarization tour of Italy that her daughter, Barbara, and now son-in-law, Stuart, decided to become engaged. It was on the streets of Italy, France, South America, and Asia that she learned to be a world-class shopper. A connoisseur of antiques, Ray discovered folk art and country objects years before they became all the rage. She also had the gift of a green thumb, enabling her to grow everything from the 40-year-old Christmas cactus given to her by her neighbors in Newton to the many orchids she gloried in watching bloom during her years in Boca Raton. She was wonderful at making people feel welcome and had an open heart and a generous spirit. Ray Asnes was predeceased by her former husband, Harold, of Boca Raton, and her younger brother, Melvin, of Malden. She was born in Kovna, Lithuania, the daughter of Solomon and Mary Green, and emigrated to the Boston area when she was 7 years old. She leaves her sister, Sylvia Nelson of Boca Raton; her sister-in-law, Carol Dingle of Malden; her son, Warren, and daughter-in-law, Susan, of Boca Raton; and her daughter, Barbara, and son-in-law, Stuart Bratesman, of Freeport, ME. She also leaves nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, and two- and four-legged grandchildren. Memorial donations may be made in her name to an animal welfare organization or hospice of your choice.