Ray Anthony Merchant

Ray, of Englewood, NJ, passed away on December 14, 2025, at the age of 71. He was born on April 16, 1954, in the beautiful city of Montego Bay, Jamaica to Louise Flowers and Ralston Merchant. He grew up with his older brothers Roy and Raphael (Keith) and younger siblings Dane (Peter) and Michelle. Ray also had a large, blended family with half-siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, and many other relatives.

Before leaving Jamaica, he graduated from the all-boys school Cornwall College in Montego Bay. After immigrating to the United States at the age of 17 he has lived in Bergen County, NJ, until his passing. He attended Fairleigh Dickinson University in Bergen County where he studied to become an accountant.

His first employment after graduating was as an accountant for the State of Illinois. For this job he got to travel all over the United States. A few years later he started working for Honeywell International Inc., where he made a career within their tax department and eventually became a tax director. While working for Honeywell he got to travel the world. Ray was a very well-liked colleague. He made a lot of friends at work but also at consulting firms at the locations he visited on his travels. He was known for mentoring and caring about the people he worked closely with, many of whom he stayed friends with even after his retirement in 2021, after more than 30 years at Honeywell.

He spent the following years enjoying travels with his wife and being around family.

Ray is survived by his children Justin, Daniel and Lindsay. He is also survived by his beloved wife Helen Elvin, whom he married in 2021, and the extended family in Sweden. He leaves behind his surviving siblings and other family members, including the two former wives, Patricia and Donna, the mothers of his three children.

His bright, youthful presence and boisterous laughter will be missed dearly by his family, friends, coworkers, and people who knew him around the neighborhood.

Though his travels on earth have ended his spirit continues its journey in all of us who loved him. May he rest in everlasting peace on the most beautiful beach with the ocean at your feet.

In lieau of flowers the family wishes that donations are made to

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/hurricane-melissa-relief-fund/

https://www.cancer.org/donate/memorial-giving.html

Or a donation to any charitable cause of your choice

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed-and gazed-but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

By William Wordsworth