Ray Mortensen

Ray, as he is better known, was born in Minneapolis, MN on Nov. 17th, 1942 to Raymond H.
and Phyllis (Boyer) Mortensen. In 1955 Ray's parents bought a farm a couple miles west of
Santiago, MN where they raised everything from horses and cattle to geese and chickens. Ray,
Sr. continued to work in the Twin Cities and came home only on Wednesday evenings and
weekends so Ray, Jr. knew the value of hard work by the time he became an adult. He loved
life in the country, even imitating, or trying at least, the riding stunts he saw on the westerns he
loved.
He attended St Cloud State University and in 1961 bought a vacant farm just west of his
parents'. On Apr. 23rd, 1962 he married Dianna (Forsyth). The couple roughed it that first
summer while Ray added electricity and plumbing to the old farmhouse, all the while continuing
to work in construction in the Twin Cities. He eventually became a master electrician owning his
own successful business for over 40 years, not retiring completely until only a few years ago.
His outgoing personality and gift of gab served him well when, in 1969 on his 27th birthday, Ray
asked Jesus Christ to be his Lord and Savior and for the next 56 years shared the gospel with
any and all who wanted to listen. He genuinely cared for even the complete stranger and loved
Bible studies, playing basketball, volleyball, hockey, hunting, sporting clays, cards, the farm
animals, reading, (still) watching westerns and documentaries and, most of all, time with his
family and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, brother and sister-in-law Richard and Barb Mortensen
and brother-in-law David Balder. He is survived by his wife of 63 years Dianna and children
Shawn, Kelly, Kerry, Tom and Matt, his sister Bonnie (Balder), brothers Mark (Lynn), Chris
(Debbie) along with 9 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
A Memorial Gathering is being planned for Dec. 6th at 11:00am at Jack & Jim's Event Center in Duelm,
MN. Service with Dignity provided by the Foley Funeral Home.
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