Michael T. Bray Sr.

Michael T. Bray Sr. of Lake Villa for five+ months A Mass Celebration for Michael T. Bray Sr., 37, formerly of Pistakee Highlands, McHenry for three years, will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, at St. Bede Catholic Church, 36455 N. Wilson Road, Ingleside. All are asked to go directly to the church. Burial will follow in Fox Lake Cemetery, Lake Villa. Visitation will be from 4 to 9 p.m. today, at K.K. Hamsher Funeral Home, 12 N. Pistakee Lake Road (one block west of Route 12,½ block north of Grand Ave.), Fox Lake. Born Aug. 22, 1968, in Berwyn, he died Sunday, March 12, 2006, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, following a pancreas and kidney transplant. He attended and graduated from Grant Community High School, where he played on the softball team. He was a carpenter by trade and was a former employee of Meier's Outdoor World in Fox Lake. Michael enjoyed shooting pool, umpiring baseball, coaching his late son, Michael's, Grant Township baseball team, and his late daughter, Alex's Johnsburg baseball team in Johnsburg. He loved and enjoyed spending time with his family and playing with his yellow lab, "Sassy." He was a wonderful husband, father, son, brother, uncle and friend. He is survived by his mother, Patricia (Joseph Schoenbeck) Bray of Lake Villa; brothers, Richard (Karen) Bray of Trevor, Wis., John (fiance Toni Flores) of North Chicago and Joseph H. Schoenbeck of Florida; sisters, Patricia Baird of Chicago, Frances Bray of Lake Villa, Jerri (Tom) Gibbons of Michigan and Ruth (Jerry) Villasana of Fox Lake; his nieces and nephews, Amy, Jake, Corey, Vanessa, Joseph, Valerie, David, Shayla, John, Chasity, Wesley, Janee, Marc, Patricia, Christina, Daniel, Skylar and Gabriel; and great-nephews, Richard and Logan. He was preceded in death by his life companion and wife, Gabrielle "Gabie" Pierce, son, Michael Bray Jr., and daughter, Alexandria Bray on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2005, following a fire in the Pistakee Highlands, McHenry home. Memorials will be appreciated for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, 500 N. Dearborn, Suite 305, Chicago, IL 60610 or the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois, 215 W. Illinois St., Suite 1C, Chicago, IL 60610. For information, 847-587-2100.