Ray Woodrow Gordy

Ray Woodrow Gordy was born October 24, 1930 in Lawrence, Mississippi to Mansel Homer Gordy and Vera (Lyles) Gordy. He and his older brother Homer grew up on the family farm raising cattle and working crops such as corn and cotton. The beloved family farm exists still to this day as a tree farm, as do memories and continuing relationships with numerous dear family and friends.

After attending Lawrence School and graduating from Newton High School, Ray left home to pursue an education at Chillicothe Business School in Chillicothe, Missouri, where he met and courted his future bride Betty Louise Griffeth from Cushing, Oklahoma. Although both were serious scholars of course, they also found time to make many memories with their numerous friends including Betty's four roommates, all named Betty just to name a few. Ray's hardworking farm roots served him well throughout his life. While in college, he not only went to school full time, he held down a full-time job managing the locally famous BenBolt Movie Theater.

Upon graduating from Business School, the couple married and began their marriage with Ray entering the service on May 1, 1951 in Jackson, MS. Their first post with the Air Force was in Waco, TX, where they had their first daughter, Cynthia Anne. They eventually were assigned to Colorado Springs where he served as an A/1C - 3425th Technical TNGRON ATC until his date of separation on April 30, 1955 from Lowry AFB in Colorado.

Upon leaving the service, they moved to Tulsa, OK where Ray took a job with McDonnell Douglas. While on a layoff, Ray and Betty worked to revive and manage a TV sales and repair shop. During those early years, the family moved for a period of time to manage the dairy operation in Cushing while Betty's parents, Lee and Opal were traveling on an extended trip to Alaska. Forever industrious, Ray would work the dairy cattle morning and night, while driving back and forth to his job at McDonnell Douglas in Tulsa. That was also the year their second child Anita Faye was born in the Cushing Hospital.

Eventually the family made their way to Claremore, Oklahoma where they purchased a farm, raised cattle and continued to build lifelong friendships. Cyndi eventually graduated from Claremore High School and married, while the family then moved to Inola where Anita graduated. While managing his cattle operation, Ray also moved up the ladder into management at McDonnell Douglas where he eventually retired as Director over the Quality Labs at 55 after 30+ years of service.

Ray did not really ever "retire" per se even after he retired from his beloved herd of multi-generation of cattle and pristinely cared for farm and yard. Even after making the difficult decision to move to "town", it was obvious to all including his new Tulsa neighbors how much Ray loved being and working outside on his and others' projects. He loved his yard and garden, particularly his roses and bright colored flowers, not to mention his birds. Very few individuals crossed paths with Ray that were not gifted with one of his famous blue bird houses. Ray loved the church and being involved in various ministries, particularly those involving construction and repair for projects such as Camp Egan, homes for the disadvantaged and storm-impacted areas. He was also heavily involved in global missions particularly in Estonia with Camp Gideon, and made numerous trips abroad. In fact, his first mission trip to Estonia was life-changing, and proved to be the inspiration to encourage him to give up his farm life and move to town to allow him to become more fully-engaged with Asbury's numerous opportunities to serve.

Ray and Betty continued to make their annual spring and fall pilgrimages to the Mississippi farm for a couple months at a time where they cared for the farm, but also spent time with friends and family. He loved family from his two daughters and their families which included 3?? generations of grandchildren and numerous "adopted" grandchildren from other countries to the numerous extended family members in Oklahoma and Mississippi. He and Betty spent a great deal of time celebrating holidays, birthdays and special occasions with family. They spent time traveling domestically on road trips to favorite places such as Colorado. But they also had the opportunity to travel abroad with friends to places like Spain, Portugal and Morocco, as well as with family members and "adopted" family to visit places like China, South Korea, Brazil, Peru and Canada.

Ray loved life to the fullest and left his mark on the lives of many. He loved the Lord and his family and will be dearly missed. Proceeded in death by his parents and brother, he is survived by Betty, his wife of 74 years, daughters Cyndi Pangle (Keith), and Anita Gordy-Watkins (Mark), 9 grandchildren, 15 great grandchildren, 6 great great grandchildren and a host of other friends and family.

The funeral service is scheduled for 1:00 pm on May 31st in the Asbury Church Chapel at 6767 S Mingo Rd, Tulsa, OK, 74133 with a reception to follow, and will be streamed live at asbury6767.online.church for those unable to attend. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made toward St. Jude’s or Alzheimers Research.