Ray Edward Stoesser

Ray Edward Stoesser, 68, of Dayton passed away peacefully at home on August 18, 2017. The family will receive friends 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Sunday, August 20, 2017 at First Baptist Church. Services for Ray will be 10:00 a.m., Monday, August 21, 2017 at First Baptist Church, Dayton. Interment will follow at Magnolia Park Cemetery under the direction of Pace-Stancil Funeral Home.

Ray was born October 9, 1948 in Dayton, Texas the sixth child of Edward Joseph Stoesser and Nina Mae Cannon Stoesser. After graduation from Dayton High School, Ray attended Baylor University and graduated with a BBA in 1971. While at Baylor, he met Eileen Jarett from Corpus Christi, and they married June 26, 1970.

Ray had started rice farming in his junior year, 1966 of high school, and continued farming during the summers while attending Baylor. In 1972, he began farming full-time in Eastgate with his father, Eddie, brother, Jack, and cousin, Roger Brown.

In 1976, the farm expanded to include acreage in Raywood on the Devers Canal. Also that year, Ray and Eileen had their first son, Neal, and ten years and six days later a second son, Grant.

In 1997, Ray was honored as Rice Farmer of the Year at the Winnie Rice Festival. Neal began farming with Ray in 1994, and Grant started farming with him in 2003.

Over the years, Ray has held numerous leadership positions within the rice industry including: president of the Texas Rice Council, Past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Rice Producers Association, Board Member of the Texas Rice Producers Board, Board Member of the Texas Rice Research Foundation, and Board Member of the American Rice Growers Dayton Division. He has also served as President of the Liberty County Farm Bureau, Former Board Member of the First National Bank of Dayton, and Member of the Texas Soybean Association.

In 2010, the Texas State House of Representatives presented Ray with a Certificate of Appreciation for his service on the State Board of the Coastal Water Authority. By 2012, Ray's farming operation had expanded to include acreage in Chambers County on the Liberty/Chambers Navigation District Canal.

In 2015, the National Conservation Systems Cotton and Rice Conference recognized Ray as the "National Rice Farmer of the Year." In March, 2016, Ray was asked to testify before the U.S. Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington, D.C. about the need for the rice industry to re-establish trade with Cuba. In seeking to establish increased rice trade with other nations, Ray has traveled yearly to Washington, D.C. to lobby on behalf of the rice industry and has taken foreign trips to Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. He was a longtime advocate of the legislation that was recently passed allowing rice exports to China.

In November 2016, the Texas State Senate recognized his contributions to the Texas Rice Industry by presenting him a Resolution at the meeting of the Liberty-Dayton Chamber of Commerce Meeting where he spoke on the "History of Liberty County Rice Farming."

Ray was preceded in death by his parents, Eddie and Nina Mae Stoesser and his brother Emil Jack Stoesser. He leaves behind to cherish his memory, his wife of 47 years, Eileen Jarett Stoesser of Dayton; his sons, Neal Stoesser and wife Meredith of Raywood; Grant and wife Laci of Liberty; his grandchildren, Nate, Jed, Wes, Jase and Ford Stoesser; his sisters, Sandra Wallace, Ellen Byrd and husband Bob, Ruth Seaberg and husband Roy, and Betty Carraway and husband Lowell; sister-in-law, Ena Stoesser; also numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

For those who desire memorials may be made to the First Baptist Church Scholarship Program, 202 East Houston, Dayton, Texas 77535 or the United States Rice Producers Association, 2825 Wilcrest Dr., Ste 218, Houston, Texas 77042, www.usriceproducers.com