IMPORTANT Would appreciate everyone thoughts and Prayers. Ray has passed away. :(

Rest in peace, Ray.

 

RIP

Great Gator.

 

Very sorry to see this. I myself, along with many others on here, only knew Ray from this site. I send my PRAYERS to Ray's family and friends. May our FATHER in HEAVEN heal and comfort them at this sad time. We all can see that Ray fought very hard. If you believe in GOD and HEAVEN, you know Ray is in a better place and in no pain. All of us believers will see him again one day. REST IN PEACE Ray. <3 AMEN

 

Rest in Peace Ray. Walk with God - you will be missed by so many

 

Not too often do you come across people who bring so many others together- good on you Ray. I hope you and Norm Carlson are watching 96 reruns in the sky somewhere

 

Onward and Upward Ray, finally you can look Him in the face!

 

Thank you Ray for all the hard work, I am sending positive thoughts to all family and friends, RIP.

 

Ray will be missed by many. He leaves a great legacy here on these pages. He's got the best seats in the house now.

 

I don't know how but I just saw that Ray has passed.
I never met him but we exchanged messages way back when.
Ray talked about coming up here to SC to watch Ingle Martin play at Furman. (Martin was a former UF QB.)
I told him I would pick him up at the airport and we could go to the game together.
He could have stayed at my house if he needed to. Alas he decided not to come so I never met him.

Most people (especially back then) would be horrified at the thought of doing something for a person they had never met, but I knew the kind of man Ray was from his posts.
I'm pretty cautious socially but I didn't have a 2nd thought about this. I would have loved to meet Ray and spend time with him.

What a great Gator and great man and great Christian...
GC has lost a giant and I am heartbroken, but thankful he is free from pain.
Thanks to all who posted about this...

 

Ray was always positive and upbeat. A kind gentleman on this crazy at times website....
He stabilized and buoyed the rocking ship.

His game notes for upcoming games, (that offered information that sometimes you didn't realize) or just finding out that there was a Saturday evening game on the West coast you didn't even realize was coming. Ray offered great information and certainly would be clear as a moderator that hammering players and coaches wasn't OK.

Please remember Ray for the positive light he was!! I'll miss his clear generous nature and time/energy he gave us on this site.

Go Gators (Win one for Ray and Hall, if you could)

 

My emotional depth in reading every page was more than I would have even thought and I was scared to.

Not having you around here will just be strange. I’m an OG, I was here for it all. Still am. As I remember I’ve known you that long and you have always been a pleasure to know.

R.I.P. We will all love you forever.

 

The signature at the bottom of Ray’s posts used to reference the intersection of Wayne and Wyoming streets in Dayton, Ohio, where his grandparents lived after immigrating from Germany. Wayback when he first went into the hospital, I made a large sign that said “Get well soon, RayGator” and had my wife photograph me holding it under the street signs of that intersection.

Ray loved it and asked me if I would take a picture of the Lutheran Church where his grandparents attended, so I went and taped the poster to the church sign and sent Ray a picture of it.

After that Ray and I had lunch together a couple times when he came to town for family reunions. He was very enjoyable to talk to, and he sure loved his Gators. I think he was active in the Lakeland Gator club. He was also quite proud of being in the Gator band.

RIP my friend! You are missed.

 

Sad to read the news about Ray. He will be remembered for so many great posts, and moderating the best Gators forum/site for decades. I've been coming here to "check the weather" of my beloved Gators sports since the '90s. This is the place to be.

 

I just read this too. I am saddened to hear about Ray’s passing. I am glad that he is no longer suffering and I hope his family and loved ones can find comfort in the end to his pain.

 

Havent checked in on this side of the board for a few weeks. I hate hearing this.

Praying for his loved ones.

 

His prep work on game threads was unmatched

 

g8orbill-

I remember you were going to go in for more shoulder surgery. I hope that is going well if you're in recovery.

I was curious if his family has read through this thread, or even has access to it? You might be infirmed yourself, so I'm not sure who could access GC on behalf of the family, but I think it would be meaningful to those left behind to see how many Gators were pulling for and cared for Ray. Anyway, just thinking out loud...

Blessings.

Go Gators.

 

What a loss.

So much is going on in my world and, although I intended to do so, I never made the time to get back down to Lakeland to see our old friend.

I'll remember him forever. May he rest in eternal peace.

 

Ray was all Gator and such a good soul. Proud to have got to know him. May he rest in peace.