Raymond Daniel Toma, Sr.

Raymond Daniel Toma, Sr. ("Ray") passed away on December 12, 2025 at the Pinnacle in Oxford, Mississippi. Visitation will be held Tuesday, December 16th at 9:00 am at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Oxford followed by a funeral Mass there at 10:00 am with burial afterwards in Oxford Memorial Cemetery, where he will be laid to rest next to the plots of his parents and mother-in-law.

Ray was born on February 3, 1946 in Gary, Indiana to the late Steven and Evelyn (Hollopeter) Toma. His family was a blending of old and new. While his father's parents had arrived in this country from Romania just over thirty years before his birth, his mother's family could trace its lineage to the Mayflower.

He moved with his parents to Arizona in 1953 when he was a child, and he grew up in the Phoenix area, graduating from Camelback High School in 1964. It was there that he met his sweetheart, Anita Marlene Dowden, and they were married that same year. He worked as an electrician for many years, and he and his wife started an electrical contracting company, Tomack Electric, that provided services to the convention industry across the Southwest. For many years, they held the exclusive contract for such work at the Phoenix Civic Plaza.

After selling their business, they moved to Roseburg, Oregon in 1997 and lived there over fifteen years. Ray continued to be active in his new home. He sometimes worked as a river guide across the Pacific Northwest and in Alaska and also enjoyed cruise vacations with his wife and traveling overseas to visit family during his son's international work assignments.

Their final move was to Oxford, Mississippi in 2013, where their eldest son was a longtime resident. Until his Parkinson's disease slowed him down, Ray continued to enjoy the outdoors, especially on his wooded retreat in southern Yalobusha County, and also volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.

Ray was a member of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, the Daniel McKie Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Sultana Camp of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the National Rifle Association.

Ray is survived by his wife of nearly sixty-two years, Anita, of Oxford, Mississippi; his brother Stefan (Rose) Toma of Montreal, Quebec, Canada; son Danny (Dana) Toma of Oxford, Mississippi; son Rory Toma of Alpharetta, Georgia, four grandchildren - Nicolae (Hannah) Toma of Bostic, North Carolina, Domenico Toma of Memphis, Tennessee, Patrick Toma of Oxford, Mississippi, and Emily Toma of Oxford, Mississippi; as well as three great-grandchildren.

Memorial contributions in Ray's name may be made to St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 416 S. 5th Street, Oxford, Mississippi 38655, or online at https://www.osvhub.com/stjohnoxford/giving/funds